Fraudster given life sentence in Foshan

FOSHAN, Guangdong: A Guangdong man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for defrauding eight middle-aged women of 4 million yuan ($585,000) in one of the biggest fraud cases of the year, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

Ye Rihai of Xuwen county plans to appeal the sentence handed down by the Foshan intermediate people's court, which included the confiscation of his luxury car that will be sold to fund compensation payments.

Ye, who targeted widows and divorcees, was first suspected of fraud in 2006 after he "borrowed" 2.68 million yuan from a woman identified by the surname "He", with whom he lived for two years.