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Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, who has been missing from the public for nearly three months, has been fined nearly US $ 130 million for tax evasion and issued a "remorse" statement on social media.
Fan has been forced to pay about $ 70 million in unpaid taxes and about $ 60 million in tax arrears, but she will escape criminal prosecution if she pays the full amount, reported the Xinhua state news agency.
The star of the X-Men: Days of Future Past has admitted to signing fraudulent contracts, called contracts "yin and yang", one of them contains the figure reported to the tax and the other the actual amount paid, reported the media.
Xinhua said his agent, identified only by his last name, Mou, was still under investigation.
During the investigation, Mou "hindered the process by encouraging employees to deliberately hide and destroy the accounting records of the companies involved," Xinhua reported.
His agent and "other staff" are under "mandatory measures", he said.
The state tax administration has also ordered its Jiangsu Province tax department to punish tax officials in connection with tax evasion, the agency said.
Fan said via her account on the social networking platform Sina Weibo that she had endured "a lot of unprecedented suffering" since her passing.
"I went through a process of deep reflection and I feel the deepest remorse and regrets for my actions," she wrote. "As a public figure, I should show the example by following the law, and not lose sight of my moral compass for financial gain, to the point of being on the wrong side of the law."
Fan's name was recently removed from the Unbreakable Spirit movie poster, starring Bruce Willis, when he disappeared on Global Times newspaper reported.
Repeated calls to the provincial tax administration and tax office in Fan's home province of Jiangsu Province went unanswered on Wednesday.
Common tax evasion
The tax authorities told the film and television industry that anyone subject to a self-assessment resulting in tax-correcting payments by December 31st will be exempted from administrative penalties.
Chinese cultural commentator Yin Hong said that tax evasion and fraud were common among high-income people in China, but that Fan targeting suggested that a broader crackdown on the entertainment sector might to be imminent.
"The authorities will certainly step up surveillance after that, which will be a blow to the investment structure and the feeling of the entire entertainment industry," Yin told Germany.
"It seems that the entire entertainment industry will undergo a very painful rectification process," he said.
Zhang Zanning, a former law professor at Dongnan University in China, was fired for "sensitive and frank speech" on social networks.
"They should not be allowed to do that," Zhang said. "If she has committed a crime, then they should sue her in a criminal court and not just assume her criminal responsibility because she's paid a fine."
"Such things should not exist in a society governed by law," he said.
Warning to the industry
At the same time, the commentator of the current affairs, Jin Zhongbing, said that the authorities were probably giving the example to Fan to send a warning to the rest of the world. industry.
"Is it really about Fan Bingbing?" Jin said. "It certainly has something to do with it, but also, they want to use a celebrity like it to make an impact and shock other stars like Fan Bingbing and entertainment companies, which gives it multiple applications. "
"Naturally, an agreement was made behind closed doors and compromises were made, so that it avoids any criminal responsibility for what constitutes a huge tax fraud," he said.
"They clearly gave her a number of options and, of course, she chose the one that was the least harmful to her."
In 2011, the renowned artist Ai Weiwei was arrested and detained in a secret location for 81 days, causing an international outcry. His company was later fined $ 2.4 million in "tax evasion".
Reported by Wong Lok-to for the Cantonese Service of RFA and by Gao Feng for Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
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