A SHENZHEN woman suspected of swindling a German man out of 600,000 yuan (US$81,081) through the Internet was an ace at cheating money out of foreigners by playing “love” scams, a Southern Metropolis Daily report said yesterday.

    Ah Juan was listed as wanted by local netizens after a German man, Milan, appealed to the public Monday for help to find her after he claimed she vanished with his money.

    Milan, who lives in Frankfurt, met Ah Juan online last April. In less than a year, he sent Ah Juan more than 600,000 yuan after she agreed to marry him on the condition that he paid out the mortgage on her apartment in Shenzhen. But Ah Juan then disappeared.

    A preliminary probe showed Ah Juan, a 33-year-old from Fengdu County in Chongqing Municipality, had several “boyfriends” other than Milan, including several middle-aged Americans and Hong Kongers, the paper said.

    She bought a 70-square-meter apartment for 470,000 yuan in Liantang in Luohu District in 2001, sponsored by a 50-year-old U.S. “boyfriend” identified as Jon, who owned 99 percent of property.

    Ah Juan sold the apartment for 700,000 yuan in March after receiving the money from Milan but is now nowhere to be found, according to the property management office.

    “Many residents here know her because she has an American boyfriend. She always looked very vogue. Some say she is very rich, with around 10 million yuan,” an office staff member was quoted as saying. “She moved out in the first half of this year. But we don’t know where.”

    Gong Yongfang, Milan’s lawyer, said he had made a phone call to Ah Juan’s home in Fengdu but there was no answer.

    “We will go to Chongqing to look for her if we fail in Shenzhen,” Gong said.

    He did not rule out the possibility of taking the woman to court later.

    Milan said he did not want to put Ah Juan in jail.

    “I just want an explanation and my money back,” he said.

    (Li Jing)