Bride-To-Be Jilts Finace After Receiving $123,000 Reverse Dowry

A bride-to-be has jilted her fiancé after she received a “reverse dowry’’ worth $123,000 in cash and Cartier jewels. Not only did she jilt her fiancé, she also fled the town with the money, according to a new lawsuit.  The devastated would-be groom’s lawyer said it was his life savings. Jiang had met his future betrothed, Zhi Juan Huang, at a gathering of friends and family in Chinatown in February 2014, and the pair soon agreed to marry, according to the suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court. Both were from an especially close-knit part of Fujian Province in China where more men than women typically immigrate to the United States — so ­Jiang thought he was really lucky to find a single Fujian woman here, Zhang said.

According to the lawyer, 30-year-old Jiang is considered old for a groom in his community, so he was eager to wed Huang who is 31. According to Fujianese custom, dowry gifts are typically made by a groom’s family to the bride. During the couple’s ceremonial engagement party at the Yung Sun Seafood Restaurant on East Broadway in May 2014, Jiang’s relatives gave Huang $73,000 in cash plus a $17,500 Cartier platinum diamond ring, as well as gold necklaces and rings worth about $32,500. “The standard dowry in the community is $60,000,” Zhang said.

Then four months later, shortly before the scheduled wedding, Huang suddenly “ceased all communication and contact” with her fiancé, the suit says. “After the breakup of the engagement, ­Jiang repeatedly requested that Huang return all of the presents and cash,” the court papers stated. Huang refused and disappeared, according to the documents. She had clearly “plotted, schemed and fraudulently acted in a manner to receive monies and gifts,’’ the suit claims. It demands the return of the dowry.

Jiang’s brother, mother, three aunts, three uncles and two grandmothers are also plaintiffs because they gifted a portion of the cash and bling to Huang. Both families operate Chinese takeout restaurants.

Source: NYP