Recently, a rumor spread on Weibo claiming that a top-tier male celebrity gambled continuously for seven days at the Wynn Palace Casino in Macau, losing a total of 1.03 billion RMB (approximately 630 million MYR), and had to mortgage three mansions and a private jet. Suspected individuals Jay Chou and Huang Xiaoming both issued statements denying being involved. Chinese public security authorities cracked the case four days later and apprehended a 36-year-old man surnamed Xu who used AI to fabricate and spread the rumor online. He was punished with eight days of administrative detention.
This farce began spreading online on March 10, claiming that the top star lost 1.03 billion RMB by making 17 transfers totaling 860 million RMB to a casino account via an offshore company and exchanged for 170 million HKD in cash chips through an underground bank. It was also said that “an insider revealed the star tried to recover losses by borrowing 300 million RMB from a Macau gang at high-interest rates, and a standalone villa in Beijing worth 280 million RMB and a top-tier apartment in Shanghai's Lujiazui had been seized by the court, involving collective contract termination with five brands.”
After this article was exposed, netizens speculated based on the economic ability to lose 1 billion RMB that Jay Chou, Huang Xiaoming, comedian Zhao Benshan, and actor Chen Daoming were the most likely candidates. Jay Chou and Huang Xiaoming denied involvement one by one, and soon after, the fabricator was arrested, putting an end to this farce.