It’s not just the Chinese. There is a type of character called politely an “entrepreneur” or more unkindly a confidence man. These guys have no money, no ethics but can spin a good yarn.
Their plan is always the same: to use your time, money and other resources to construct and execute a deal of some sort. The plan always being that if they can make it happen, they will get a small percentage of the project.
Examples:
‘’The Turkish gentleman who claimed to have a big woollen textile business in Turkey. He wanted to establish a huge new wool scouring plant in Geelong. It would employ thousands of locals.
He wanted some council land and a grant from the state government. The council paid for his accommodation in Geelong for a year while he put the deal together.
Despite my warnings the deal went ahead - only to fail when he refused to submit his turkish audited accounts to the group of Victorian auditors who were the final line of defence against fraud. There was no Turkish “woollen textile business”.
‘’More examples on request.