Liu Liange, former Chairman of the Bank of China, allegedly convinced his son to break up with his fiancée just so he could court and marry her instead.

Liu Liange most recently made news headlines in November of last year when he was issued a suspended death sentence with a two-year reprieve for accepting 121 million yuan ($17 million) in bribes and issuing illegal loans of over 3.32 billion yuan ($450 million) during his tenure Chairman of the Bank of China, but he previously became known for his love of young women. After divorcing his first wife, Liange remarried three times, with people remarking that his wives got younger and more attractive each time, culminating in his controversial fourth marriage to his son’s ex-fiancée.

Photo: AI

Chinese media first wrote about Liu Liange’s bizarre fourth marriage back in 2023, shortly after his sudden removal from his position as Party Secretary of the Bank of China and subsequent exclusion from the Communist Party. The story of how he had convinced his son to break up with his girlfriend only to then pursue the same woman himself had long been the subject of gossip in China, but due to his high standing in the Communist Party, news outlets had never officially covered it.

63-year-old Liu Liange’s weakness for young, beautiful ladies was never a secret, but no one believed he would go as far as to sabotage his son’s romantic relationship just because he wanted the youth’s girlfriend for himself. One day, when his son brought home his young girlfriend and told Liange that he planned to marry her, the banker became so bewitched by the girl’s beauty that he started planning a way to steal her from his son.

A few days after meeting his soon-to-be daughter-in-law, Liu started pressuring his son into breaking up with her, claiming that she was not from a good family and all she coveted was to benefit from their fortune and influence. The young man tried to convince his father that he was wrong, but Liange was unrelenting and he initially buckled under the pressure, agreeing to end his romantic relationship.

To make sure that his son was no longer a threat to his romantic ambitions, Liu Liange set him up with a much more suitable girlfriend, the daughter of an old friend. Then, he used his connections to locate his son’s ex-girlfriend and began showering her with gifts, like expensive jewelry and luxury products. It was only a matter of time before the young woman fell in his arms.

Six months after breaking up with his fiancée, Liu Liange learned that his former partner would soon become his third stepmother. The news was reportedly so shocking that it plunged the young man into deep depression. At one point, his condition got so bad that he needed to be hospitalized.

Unfortunately for Liu Liange, he couldn’t enjoy his fourth marriage for very long, as that same year, someone reported him to the Commission for Discipline Inspection, and his legal troubles began. He later had to resign from his position and was eventually tried for corruption.

Liu Liange’s ruthlessness went viral in China and he was compared to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, who fell in love with Yang Yuhuan (often known as Yang Guifei), the beautiful wife of his son Li Mao.