A MAN who cheated women he met on dating websites out of more than 1 million yuan (US$145,250) has been jailed for 11 years by the Putuo District People’s Court.

His wife was also jailed as an accomplice.

The man, surnamed Wang, impersonated a Chinese-American financial expert on China’s leading dating websites such as zhenai.com and jiayuan.com.

He had dates and relationships with six women, the court said.

They were convinced of his background, and lured to invest in gold via an investment website, which he had set up. But the money went directly to him.

To win their trust, the website allowed them to withdraw tens of thousands of yuan whenever they liked and Wang personally sent them thousands of yuan.

When they found their accounts were emptied, they were just told their investments had failed, the court said.

Wang said that he spent the money to maintain the operation of the website, but actually used it pay his mortgages.

His scam was exposed last March when one of his “girlfriends” demanded he return her investment of 300,000 yuan and took his mobile phone.

Several months later, police received complaints from the six women.

Wang and his wife, surnamed Gu, who helped in the scam were nabbed in June. Gu has been sentenced to three and half years.

The court is trying to recover the money. The couple is appealing the verdict.