Chinese playboy, 29, faces prison after 'swindling £19MILLION from a friend' before splurging it on gambling, supercars and a celebrity girlfriend

  • Zhang Xiao'en, 29, allegedly squandered his rich parents' £9mn savings too
  • It is claimed he spent the huge sums on supporting his luxurious hobbies
  • Apparently he also used it to court his girlfriend, including buying her a flat
  • Zhang has been arrested, charged with fraud and is now facing jail time 

A Chinese man with a lavish lifestyle has allegedly squandered his wealthy parents' £9 million life savings and swindled a further £19 million from a rich friend in order to satisfy his luxurious hobbies. 

Zhang Xiao'en, 29, appeared to drive a McLaren, jet around the world on extravagant holidays, tip bartenders with tens of thousands of Chinese yuan and have a beautiful, famous girlfriend on his arm.

However it's alleged the entrepreneur was able to lead such a high-flying life because he tricked his friends into investing money in his so-called supercar business.

Zhang has been arrested, charged with fraud and is facing jail time in a sensational case that grabbed the attention of China last week.

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It's said Zhang Xiao'en fell  in love with Yang Yixiao (pictured), who is a celebrated live-streaming host. The picture was released by Chinese news site Btime
Zhang apparently showered Yang with expensive gifts, including a holiday to Dubai (pictured) and a £4.6mn apartment in Guangzhou. The picture was released by Chinese news site Btime

It's said Zhang Xiao'en fell in love with Yang Yixiao (left), who is a celebrated live-streaming host. He showered her with expensive gifts, including a holiday to Dubai (right) and a £4.6mn apartment in Guangzhou. The above two pictures are released by Chinese news site Btime

Zhang, 29, was charged with fraud by a public prosecutor in Beijing during a hearing (pictured). The picture has been released by Chinese news site Beijing News

Zhang, 29, was charged with fraud by a public prosecutor in Beijing during a hearing (pictured). The picture has been released by Chinese news site Beijing News

One of Zhang's friends, Wang Binmeng, gave him as much as £19 million (170 million yuan) in the space of 15 months under the impression that they would form a new company to trade second-hand supercars in China; however, Zhang allegedly blew the business funds on gambling, luxury goods and paying off his personal debts between March 2016 and June 2017, according to Beijing People's Procuratorate during a court hearing.

Footage of the hearing was released by Chinese news outlet Btime.com

He also allegedly splurged the money on wooing his internet celebrity girlfriend. Zhang fell head over heels in love with the woman, named Yang Yixiao, after following her programmes on live-streaming website Yingke. The two established a romantic relationship in February, 2017.

The love-struck man is alleged to have spent millions on Yang, reported to be 23 years old. He showered her with costly gifts, including a high-end apartment worth £4.6 million (40 million yuan) and trips to Dubai, according to evidence presented by the public prosecutor during a hearing. Zhang paid the £500,000 down payment for the luxury flat in Guangzhou, which was under Yang's name.

It is claimed Zhang was also addicted to gambling. Between April and June 2017 alone, he allegedly travelled to Macau, the casino capital of Asia, for as many as 12 times on betting sprees. The prosecutor claimed he became burdened by gambling debts and paid up as much as 30 million yuan (£3.4 million) using the money he had conned out of his various friends.

Zhang travelled to Macau (pictured), the casino capital of Asia, 12 times between April and June 2017; and he owed around £3.4 million gambling debts, according to the prosecutor

Zhang travelled to Macau (pictured), the casino capital of Asia, 12 times between April and June 2017; and he owed around £3.4 million gambling debts, according to the prosecutor

Zhang was accused of blowing huge sums of business funds on his hobbies, such as gambling

Zhang was accused of blowing huge sums of business funds on his hobbies, such as gambling

It is claimed in the legal case that the multiple supercars Zhang was seen driving in apparently didn't belong to him. He tricked Wang into lending him his McLaren P1, a hybrid supercar worth more than 8.7 million yuan (£990,000) on the Chinese market - claiming he needed it for a car show. 

Zhang then allegedly drove the fancy car from Beijing to Shanghai and pawned it to another wealthy friend, named Qin Feng, for £1.1 million (10 million yuan).

He then used the same method to 'borrow' a Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4, worth £505,000 (44.4 million yuan), from another successful friend Han Chong, who he had known through Wang and also invested in his company, it is claimed. Zhang then pawned the Lamborghini to another friend not named by the prosecutor.

Zhang was bad at business and his company never made money after buying then selling around 60 second-hand supercars, the prosecutor claimed.

His parents had given him their life savings, £9 million (80 million), for the start-up fund of his company, but Zhang lost it all in his failed business, according to People's Daily Online, citing Beijing Youth Daily.

Zhang's business partners realised that something had gone wrong with their investment after first failing to get the promised three per cent monthly return, then the capital.

Zhang tricked his business partner, Wang, into lending him his McLaren P1 (file photo), and then pawned the £990K car to a rich friend, Qin, for £1.1mn, said the Beijing prosecutor

Zhang tricked his business partner, Wang, into lending him his McLaren P1 (file photo), and then pawned the £990K car to a rich friend, Qin, for £1.1mn, said the Beijing prosecutor

Zhang allegedly used the same method to 'borrow' a Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 (file photo), worth £505,000, from another business partner, Han, before pawning it to friends

Zhang allegedly used the same method to 'borrow' a Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 (file photo), worth £505,000, from another business partner, Han, before pawning it to friends

They reported the case to the police who detained Zhang on June 25, 2017. When Zhang was detained, he was driving a luxury car worth £910,000 (8 million yuan), reported Beijing Youth Daily.

The case was heard at the Beijing's No. 3 Intermediate People's Court on July 6. By the time of the hearing, Zhang owed his business partners more than £1.5 million (14 million yuan).

The supercars Zhang conned out of his business partners have been returned to their original owners. 

Beijing People's Procuratorate claimed that Zhang had used illegal methods to scam money and assets from other people, and the sums were especially high. Therefore, the prosecutor decided to charge him with fraud.

Zhang admitted to the allegations put forward by the prosecutor in general, but he argued that he owed his business partners far less than £1.5 million; and after he realised his business was failing, he tried to pay them back as much as he could.

The court is yet to announce a sentence. 

According to clause 266 of Chinese criminal law, if a person is convicted with fraud and the amount involved is 'particularly big', the person could be jailed for three to 10 years; and if the consequences of the crime are particularly serious, life imprisonment could be given.