Nearly 30 Olympic medallists and showbiz celebrities were swindled out of about 60 million yuan (HK$73.6 million) in bogus housing and car deals orchestrated by a woman pretending to be a 'princeling' - a child of a senior Communist Party figure - according to prosecutors.
Hearings in the high-profile fraud case began on Tuesday at the Beijing Municipal No 2 Intermediate People's Court.
Prosecutors allege that Wang Di scammed the athletes and celebrities over three years by pretending to be the daughter of a former deputy governor of Liaoning province, the Beijing-based Legal Evening News reported. Her alleged victims include Olympic athletes such as gymnastics gold medallists Yang Wei and Zou Kai and swimming gold medallist Luo Xuejuan. Actress Wang Likun and 22 other celebrities were also scammed.
The newspaper said Wang Di, a 31-year-old mother from Dalian, Liaoning, was charged with swindling 58 million yuan and HK$2.28 million from the victims, and more than 34 million yuan has not been retrieved.
Wang Di was arrested on March 6 of last year. Police said she admitted spending more than 7 million yuan, while a further 12 million yuan was taken by her 27-year-old boyfriend, gymnast Xiao Qin, who won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Beijing Times reported.
Xiao told mainland media in 2009 that he planned to marry Wang Di, according to the Chengdu Commercial Daily. It is unclear what, if anything, has happened to Xiao. He is training for the London Olympics this summer.