According to a Chinese newspaper, the man who made 2 million yuan ($250,400) by defrauding dozens of farmers has been jailed for 12 years. The conman convinced the farmers to grow trees that he said would be used in the 2008 Olympics.

Liu Lutang duped more than 50 farmers into contracts to buy saplings of a maple tree for 20 yuan ($2.50) each, promising them he would buy them back at a higher price after six months, the Beijing News said.

"He told the farmers (they) would be used in the Olympics," the paper said.

Liu, who had set up a bogus forestry company with offices in several Chinese cities, convinced the farmers the trees would sprout six to eight branches in a year and that he would pay them 8 yuan ($1) per branch, the paper said.

Liu's con was perpetrated between December 2001 and March 2002. He was arrested in 2002, but then skipped bail and evaded police for nearly three years.