A Chinese man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined 150,000 yuan after being convicted of fraud involving his fiancée’s gold jewellery and more than 2.08 million yuan in pawnshop loans.
The man, identified as Li, had become engaged to his fiancée, Zhou, in 2024 after both had gone through failed marriages. The couple planned to get married at the end of 2025, with Li purchasing a traditional set of five gold jewellery pieces worth nearly 200,000 yuan for his bride-to-be.
However, Li’s gambling addiction soon left him drowning in debt. After selling his car, computer and other personal belongings, he turned his attention to the gold jewellery kept by Zhou in their safe.
In August 2025, while Zhou was away, Li secretly took a gold necklace and pawned it to raise money for gambling. To hide what he had done and maintain the appearance that the jewellery was still intact, he later replaced the genuine pieces with specially made gold-plated silver jewellery that closely resembled the originals.
Li subsequently discovered that two pawnshop operators he regularly dealt with carried out only basic checks on gold jewellery by heating its surface with a torch. Since the fake jewellery had a genuine gold exterior, the deception initially went undetected.
Starting in September 2025, Li repeatedly used the fake jewellery as collateral, claiming that he only needed temporary financial assistance and would redeem the items shortly. Over the course of just one month, he pledged the fake pieces nine times and obtained more than 2.08 million yuan in total.
Instead of using the money to settle his debts or prepare for his wedding, Li reportedly gambled away the entire amount.
His scheme eventually unravelled in November when he attempted to pawn the jewellery for a 10th time. During the inspection, the pawnshop operator noticed several white spots appearing on the surface of a bracelet after it was heated more intensely. The bracelet was cut open, revealing a silver-coloured metal core.
The operator then checked the other pieces previously received from Li and discovered that they were also gold-plated silver rather than genuine gold. The matter was subsequently reported to police.
After his arrest, Li initially denied the allegations and claimed the pawnshop operators had secretly switched his genuine jewellery with fake pieces. However, prosecutors later obtained purchase invoices, WeChat payment records and bank transactions showing that Li had repeatedly purchased gold-plated silver jewellery matching the items he had pawned.
Faced with the evidence, Li eventually admitted to the fraud and pleaded guilty.
Prosecutors concluded that Li had deliberately used fake jewellery to mislead the pawnshop operators and obtain money through deception. The total amount involved exceeded 2.08 million yuan, making it a case of particularly serious fraud under Chinese law.
The court also considered that Li had used all the proceeds for gambling, which prosecutors said reflected a serious level of wrongdoing. His confession and decision to plead guilty were taken into account when determining the sentence.
Speaking about the case, Li expressed regret over the consequences of his actions, saying his family and wedding plans had been destroyed and that he had let his loved ones down.
Following a prosecution brought by Pingyang County People’s Procuratorate, the court convicted Li of fraud and sentenced him to 11 years in prison and a fine of 150,000 yuan.
