They allege Ms Wang, 31, rented several luxury apartments in Beijing and
convinced potential buyers, including famous sports starts, a film director
and a television actress, that she was either the owner or could secure them
a cut-price deal.
Ms Wang, who is the ex-wife of a former player from Dalian Shide, one of
China’s top football sides, then asked for deposits towards the purchase of
the properties.
Her apparent clients included the world-champion gymnast Yang Wei, Luo
Xuejuan, who won the gold medal for breaststroke at the 2004 Olympics in
Athens and Zou Kai, a gymnast who will appear at the London Olympics next
month.
Wang Likun, a TV star famed for playing a bad-girl in the 2010 soap opera
‘Schemes of a Beauty’, was reportedly also among those who fell for the
scheme.
“She [Wang Ti] pretended to be the daughter of high-level officials and told
the athletes that she could use her status to buy low-priced property,”
Tang Junfen, a lawyer representing 3 of the 27 alleged victims, told the
China Daily. “But in fact Wang’s cheap properties were all rental
apartments.”
The ongoing scandal involving the alleged murder of British businessman Neil
Heywood last November has thrown a spotlight on how even genuine
“princelings” have taken advantage of their status to move up in the world.
Bo Guagua, the Porsche-driving 24-year-old son of disgraced politician Bo
Xilai, has become the most visible symbol of the contradiction between
socialist values promoted by China’s top leaders and the globetrotting
lifestyles enjoyed by their offspring.
Many of China’s genuine princelings attend leading private schools and
universities in Europe and the US and are seen rubbing shoulders with
celebrities.
Ms Wang’s days as a princeling-impersonator appear to be over. If convicted
she could face life in prison.
Zhu Shiqun, the mother of Zou Kai, the gymnast who was allegedly cheated out
of 1.5m yuan, told the Chengdu Commercial Daily she feared the scandal might
hit China’s chances at the London Olympics next month.
“I hope this will not affect Zou Kai and the team in their preparations for
the upcoming London Olympics,” she said.
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