Eleven members of a Chinese family allegedly married and divorced each other 23 times in one month to obtain state housing.
The fraud began after officials in Lishui city, Zhejiang province, drew up an urban compensation scheme.
This offered free flats to residents who lived in an area where homes had been demolished as part of a development scheme.
A resident of Lishui city named Pan heard of the scheme and sought to take advantage of it, according to state newspapers People’s Daily and The Global Times.
Pan’s surname has not been reported.
He proceeded to re-marry his ex-wife, who lived in the affected area, on 6 March.
Pan registered as a resident of the area and then divorced his ex-wife, before marrying and divorcing his sister and her sister-in-law.
The various couples registered as residents before divorcing, so that each marriage increased the number of people entitled to a flat.
Pan’s family members followed his lead, with his father marrying a few different relatives, including his mother-in-law, according to CNN.
“In doing this, we were just trying to get more compensation,” the older man reportedly told police officers.
Cousins, brothers and sisters also joined the scheme, for a total of 23 weddings and divorces.
Pan registered three marriages at the Ministry of Civil Affairs in one week. The scale of the fraud eventually led the committee overseeing the area’s redevelopment to lodge a criminal complaint.
“Faking marriages and divorces to...illegally acquire more relocation compensation constitutes the crime of fraud,” Liu Chen, the police officer leading the investigation.
Eleven members of the family have been arrested for alleged fraud.
The suspects have expressed regret, according to The Global Times.
The investigation continues.
