Fraudster convinced his countrymen he was a British aristocrat pal of William and Harry

A Chinese man who claimed he was the son of an English lord and friends with the British royal family was caught out because he could not speak English. 

Apparently Jian Pan, 35 was apparently asked so often if he was English due to his supposedly 'western features' - that he decided to cash in by claiming to be the son of an English lord from London.

He then took money from local people by creating stories involving investments in England and boasted of his connections with his 'friends' Prince William and Prince Harry. 

But he could not even speak English and had never been to London. 

The scheme came unstuck when the fame of the 'English lord' living in Nanjing city in east China's Jiangsu province led to a group of English lovers seeking him out to practice their English. 

When he could not understand their questions, they were quick to realise he was a fraud.

When it was revealed he was a liar, people came forward saying that they had lent him money in order to make connections to the British Royal family, and demanded their cash back which had already been spent.

A police spokesman said: 'He claimed he had come to China as a diplomat and although he had given up the job he had fallen in love with the land and its people.

'He would then say he was working on giving Chinese people investment opportunities in the UK, and persuade them to part with cash if they wanted to take part in one of the schemes.

'But he tried it one time too many on the wrong people who decided to deal out a bit of instant justice and gave the liar a thoroughly good beating that he won't forget in a hurry. 

'Then they picked him up and delivered him to us where he confessed to being a local who had never been to London and had even failed his English exams at school.'

Jian Pan admitted that it had been easier to borrow the cash totalling over £5,000 from various people by pretending to be a well-connected upper-class Englishman than it would have been to get a normal job.

The police spokesman added: 'He kept on about his 'noble blood' and 'big connections' with both businessmen and politicians. 

'In all he cheated more than 20 people that we know of out of their money, but the final total could be more.'

He is facing multiple charges of fraud that could see him jailed for ten years.

Dailym