Fan’s case echoes that of former diva Liu Xiaoqing
BEIJING: The sudden dimming of a showbiz luminary in the mould of Fan Bingbing echoes that of former diva Liu Xiaoqing. Reports to date indicate that Fan may avoid a jail sentence if she pays up RM542 million in fines by an undisclosed date. Liu wasn’t so fortunate. In 2002, Liu, the star of a number of awardwinning movies, was detained in prison for 14 months during investigations into tax evasion. Liu’s career reached its zenith in the 1980s with films such as The
I used to walk around Beijing and say, ‘I used to own this house, and this house, and this house.’ Liu Xiaoqing, actress
Burning of the Imperial Palace and Hibiscus Town. She then built a business empire dealing with a wide range of products, including cosmetics.
In 2002, when she was investigated for and later found guilty of tax evasion. It was discovered that she had been under-reporting her earnings to trim 30 per cent off her annual taxes.
During a 14-month investigation, Liu spent time in Qincheng Prison, a maximumsecurity facility in Beijing.
She was freed in August 2003 after paying a fine of US$ 3.9 million.
Her brother-in-law, Jing Jun, who was also general manager of one of her companies was jailed for three years.
In an interview with a US publication, Liu recalled that it was a tough time of bad food and cold showers, enlivened only by the odd game of badminton with prison wardens.
She had to sleep with up to seven other inmates on the floor of a small cell. “I used to jog diagonally across the cell and the other inmates had to stand against the wall to give me enough space,” she said.
After her release, Liu had “nothing, only debts,” she says. “I used to walk around Beijing and say, ‘I used to own this house, and this house, and this house.’”
In comparison, Fan might consider herself fortunate not to have been imprisoned during the recent investigation into her tax affairs, although she did spend three months in “secret detention”.