A $½million winning baccarat streak with his lucky charm girlfriend by his side should have given Zhiwei Zheng and Jasmine Zheng the perfect boost to their relationship – but it all ended in tears and a lawsuit when the New Jersey man decided to keep the money to himself, dump the supposed love of his life and ‘upgrade’ to a new model.
Betting and losing $2000 per hand was the usual routine for Zhiwei until he brought Jasmine to the tables – her lawyer James DeCristofaro describing Jasmine as “a good luck charm” – as she helped turn around his fortunes, leading to a $500,000 winning streak in Atlantic City back in January.
“Finally Made it!! 26 sittin’ on half a million!” Zhiwei boasted on Facebook’, according to the NYPost, reporting on the lawsuit Jasmine has brought, in which she claims they pooled their money and agreed to split any winnings.
This, however, was not part of Zhiwei’s plans, despite the pair gambling ‘using Jasmine’s casino comp card, which meant the winnings — and taxes owed — were recorded in her name’.
He was soon flirting with other girls and splashing the cash, posing with a Rolex Submariner watch on his wrist, bragging:
“$38,000 Rolex . . . Mine for Life.”
Jasmine explained:
“He was, like, talking to other girls, flirting with other girls and I couldn’t handle that, and he said, ‘If you cannot handle that, then we just broke up,’ and he found another girlfriend right away,” she said.
According to one neighbour, Zhiwei’s new love was even lavishing him with gifts, stating:
“I seen him about a month ago. He had a big chain, a Cuban Link, more than 100 grams . . . He says, ‘I got it from my girlfriend.’ He upgraded.”
The cash, half a million dollars of it – the amount Jamine is suing her former beau for, was allegedly held by Zhiwei’s West New York Chinese restaurant owning family, the place where Jasmine and Zhiwei met.
“I was really trusting him at that time and I really loved him,” Jasmine said about the family holding her share of the winnings, but when she asked for her share in order to pay taxes, Zhiwei’s father allegedly encouraged her to lie.
“You just tell them you lose all the money, then you don’t have to pay the tax for it.”
The case continues in Manhattan federal court.