The founder of the WePhone mobile application, Su Xiangmao, committed suicide by jumping off a building eight years ago. On September 19, his ex-wife, Zhai Xinxin, who was accused of “demanding tens of millions and driving her husband to death,” was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
According to the WeChat public account “Beijing Haidian Court,” on September 19, the first-instance verdict of the Zhai Xinxin case was announced, with the court sentencing her to 12 years in prison for extortion and imposing a fine of 100,000 yuan (RMB, the same below). Additionally, Zhai Xinxin was ordered to compensate the plaintiffs, including Wei Moumou, for a total of over 70,000 yuan in economic losses.
Investigations revealed that in March 2017, the defendant Zhai Xinxin and the victim Su Xiangmao established a romantic relationship. In May of the same year, the two purchased a property in Hainan Province for a total price of over 3.19 million yuan, with Su Xiangmao making a down payment of over 1.99 million yuan. On June 7 of the same year, they got married.
From July to September 2017, Zhai Xinxin demanded a divorce, threatening to report Su Xiangmao and his company while demanding 10 million yuan in compensation for mental anguish and ownership of the Hainan property. On July 18, Su Xiangmao was forced to pay Zhai Xinxin 6.6 million yuan, after which the ownership of the Hainan property was transferred to Zhai Xinxin.
Even after receiving the mentioned assets, Zhai Xinxin continued to threaten Su Xiangmao multiple times to demand the remaining money. On September 7, 2017, Su Xiangmao tragically fell to his death by jumping off a building. Their marriage lasted only 42 days. The court ruled that Zhai Xinxin and Su Xiangmao had no marital communal property, and what Zhai Xinxin sought was Su Xiangmao’s personal assets. Zhai Xinxin had no legal basis to claim compensation or damages upon divorce, and her actions constituted extortion.
After a delay of over eight years, this case finally came to a conclusion.
After the verdict was announced, on September 19 at noon, Su Xiangmao’s brother, Su Xianglong, responded to “Red Star News” through an intermediary, saying, “Finally, after eight years, there is a resolution, we just want peace and quiet, we are also tired.”
Born in 1981 in the mountainous region of Fujian, Su Xiangmao graduated from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications with a master’s degree and became a programmer. He later founded a technology company and developed a mobile application software for messaging and calling, which brought in substantial income.
In the early hours of September 7, 2017, Su Xiangmao sent out a message stating, “The company’s legal person was harmed to death by his poisonous wife Zhai, WePhone will cease operations,” before jumping off his building to commit suicide at around 4 a.m.
In his suicide note, Su Xiangmao mentioned that Zhai Xinxin had blackmailed him by reporting his personal tax evasion and alleged illegal activities within his company, demanding 10 million yuan in cash and the Hainan property as compensation. With his financial chain broken, Su Xiangmao felt “very desperate.”
Reports indicate that just two hours before Su Xiangmao’s suicide, Zhai Xinxin was apparently still online posting allegations against him and even disclosing his ID card number and contact information.
Following Su Xiangmao’s suicide, his representatives and family members submitted a civil lawsuit to the Chaoyang District Court of Beijing on April 20, 2018. According to Su Xianglong’s statement on Weibo, after reviewing the chat records and financial transactions between his brother and Zhai Xinxin, he and his family discovered that Su Xiangmao had spent “nearly 13 million yuan” on Zhai Xinxin before and during their marriage.
On March 31, 2023, the Chaoyang District Court of Beijing ruled in the first instance that Zhai Xinxin should return nearly ten million yuan in cash and a car to Su Xiangmao’s family, as well as revoke Zhai Xinxin’s personal ownership of two properties in Hainan and Beijing. On June 9 of the same year, it was confirmed by mainland media that Zhai Xinxin had been arrested.