In 2004, Wang Fuqiao pretended to be a government official and promised Zhuo Ma, wife of Yuan Baojing, that he could use his contacts with senior officials to help secure the release of her husband.

Arrested in November 2003, Yuan was sentenced to death for plotting murder, and executed in March 2006.

Wang was sentenced to life imprisonment for fraud by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court. All his personal property will be confiscated.

Zhuo Ma said she met Wang at a friend's birthday party on February 24, 2004.

Wang later phoned Zhuo, saying he knew high-level officials and could help secure the release of Yuan from prison.

From February 2004 to June 2005, Wang asked Zhuo to give him a total of eight million yuan, the court was told.

After Yuan was executed, Zhuo realized she had been cheated, and asked Wang to return her money. Wang gave her an IOU for four million yuan, and then returned 900,000 yuan in September 2005.

Wang denied he had pretended to be a state leader, saying Zhuo asked him to deal with Yuan's case and the eight million yuan was a payment for services.

Yuan made a fortune after he founded the Beijing-based Jianhao Group. When he ran into business difficulties, Yuan hired a hitman to kill his business partner, Liu Han.

The assassination bid failed, and Yuan was subsequently blackmailed by the man who had helped him find the hitman.

Yuan paid his brother and cousin to shoot the blackmailer.