Chinese drama actress Esther Yu (Yu Shuxin) was widely known for her image as a wealthy socialite when she first rose to fame, but later it was exposed that her father had become a 'discredited debtor' who failed to pay back his debts and was subject to spending restrictions.
Recently, finance blogger 'Lao Pan Caishang' posted a video questioning Yu Shuxin's father, Yu Pijie, for allegedly embezzling 1.5 billion RMB (about RM885 million) of state-owned enterprise funds through his company 'Huashang Mining.' He also pointed out that 'Huashang Mining' had abnormally low tax rates, raising suspicions of tax evasion or financial fraud. Moreover, her grandfather was reported to have served as the chairman of the labor union at the Chinese state-owned enterprise 'Xinyu Steel Group,' while his son Yu Pijie ran a mining company whose business highly overlaps with Xinyu Steel Group, arousing suspicion of collusion between officials and business. Yu Pijie was alleged to have engaged in loan sharking at an annual interest rate of 42%, involving over 37.8 million RMB (about RM22.31 million). Even during his period of restricted high spending, he was said to lavish cash on high-end brands for his daughter Esther Yu. All these controversies led her to lose 720,000 followers in just seven days.
In response to these family allegations, yesterday Esther Yu's studio forwarded a lawyer's statement and posted that 'Regarding the defamatory rumors targeting Ms. Esther Yu, we have entrusted the matter to our lawyers. We believe the internet is not beyond the reach of the law, and those who intentionally fabricate rumors will be held legally responsible. Though the road to safeguarding our rights may be long, we will persist and never tolerate such behavior.'
'Xinyu Steel Group' announced three months ago that 'public opinion has been reported,' but so far no investigation results have been released. Chinese media outlets Jimu News and Southern Daily commented that the incident has gone beyond the scope of entertainment and, as it involves social fairness, should require official investigation.
Source: Up Media News