Bad Boy Broker Caught After RMB 200M Real Estate Fraud

120 outlets of China’s Ningxia Xinglin Real Estate Marketing Co suddenly shut their doors in recent weeks after more than 1200 customers across four provinces reported having been cheated by the property brokerage.

Now the company’s owner, Wu Binglin, is behind bars and accused of defrauding his clients of RMB 200 million (US$33 million) after being captured in by police in Beijing, according to a report by official news agency Xinhua.

Wu was captured along with nine other suspects after Xinglin Real Estate’s stores in 50 cities began closing in late August after a wave of customer complaints of fraud

Full Service Fraudsters

According to local media reports, Xinglin used a variety of tactics to separate clients from their money, beyond the usual collection commission on transactions.

In police reports filed by defrauded customers, the company was accused of listing homes at unusually low prices as bait, with down payments to be made through the agency. Then once customers rushed to pay their deposits, home purchases dragged on for months before finally being unsuccessful.

Following these bogus transactions, clients were unable to get their deposits refunded from the agency, or had these refunds delayed by six months to a year.

Before this most recent incident Xinglin had already been fined twice by the the Ningxia authorities for a total of RMB 20,000 ($3,260).

Now authorities in Liaoning, Jilin, Shaanxi, Henan, Hebei, Yunnan and Gansu provinces are trying to sort through reports from more than 1200 buyers of illegal collections by Xinglin and missing refunds.

Expanding to 140 Branches in 5 Years

Xinglin Real Estate Co was established in 2009 and commenced its property brokerage business the next year, said Xinhua, adding that it had over 140 branches in more than 50 cities nationwide, all managed by Wu.

After Xinglin expanded its business across the country, Wu used names such as Debang, Hengqing and Zhengfeng for his outlets in some cities.