A man who swindled a female vice-mayor 2.86 million yuan ($430,000) through a false relationship was sentenced to 15 years in jail on charges of fraud in Beijing, Beijing News reported Wednesday.

The victim Li Yu (alias) got to know Zhang Wei, 40, who claimed he was a chief designer for a decoration company in Beijing, while fixing her apartment in November 2007.

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Zhang told Li he had been abandoned by his wife and lived alone with his child in the capital, where he had been dreaming of opening an art gallery to earn some "big money."

Zhang let Li know about his plan in January 2008, after which the woman gave him millions of yuan from her own deposits, even borrowing money from friends to support his dream.

Li was installed as vice mayor of a city, which was not named in the article, in late 2008. They broke up in August 2009, when Zhang demanded that Li should pay him five million yuan for his "emotional damages" and threatened to make public her privacy.

Li filed her case in October 2010 to Beijing's Haidian district police, who found the man not an abandoned chief designer, but married.

Zhang said in court he was sincere when in the relationship with Li and he would appeal.