Actor Huang Xiaoming denies involvement in stock manipulation
HUANG Xiaoming (pic) has become the latest Chinese actor to be caught up in a financial scandal, though the star is denying playing a part in a stock manipulation case involving more than 897mil yuan (RM520mil).
Last month, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) published an administrative penalty decision on its website, announcing that it had imposed a fine of about 1.8bil yuan (RM1.1bil) against Gao Yong, who was suspected of illegally inflating stock prices.
The investigation into the securities fraud found that one of the 16 trading accounts used by Gao to manipulate stock prices belonged to Huang.
The CSRC said that Huang’s mother gave Gao permission to use an account that was in Huang’s name.
The actor met CSRC inspectors during their investigation, with one inspector telling news agency The Economic Observer that “existing evidence does not prove whether Huang is involved in, or aware of, the stock manipulation, so he will not be held accountable”.
The CSRC said on Aug 17 that Huang was not listed as a criminal suspect in the stock manipulation case.
In an announcement on Sina Weibo, Huang said his mother managed the account in question and that he did not know Gao, the suspect in the fraud investigation.
He also publicly apologised for his “careless” financial management.
Huang is not the only Chinese celebrity whose finances have recently been called into question. Actress Fan Bingbing has come under the spotlight recently, facing accusation of tax fraud.
According to last year’s Forbes China Celebrity List, Huang was ranked 16th with an annual income of 170mil yuan (RM102mil).
His wife Angelababy was ranked eighth with an annual income of 200mil yuan (RM119mil). Fan was top of the list with 300mil yuan (RM180mil).
In June, five of China’s nationallevel government bodies issued a notice that urged the country’s film and television industry to deal with the problems of exorbitant celebrity pay and tax evasion. – China Daily/ Asia News Network