The plot thickens in Da Vinci fake furniture scandal

A pressman was fired and another accused of extortion in a dramatic twist of events in the high-end retailer controversy.

THE Da Vinci story in China has further developed into a soap opera. Days after an audio clip believed to have contained a conversation on how Da Vinci Furniture Co Ltd’s crisis could be saved by a well-schemed public relations (PR) campaign was released in Century Weekly, a pressman who provided PR service to the troubled furniture retailer was fired by his company.

Reports on Saturday said Beijing Times had removed Cui Bin from his position as general manager.

The reports said Cui Bin, who runs a PR company of his own, received a three million yuan (Rm1.5mil) contract from Da Vinci to act as a middleman between Da Vinci and the media and help the furniture company with PR crisis management.

The conversation in the audio clip was believed to have involved Cui Bin, Da Vinci CEO Doris Phua and a reporter from China Central Television (CCTV) who exposed stories of Da Vinci selling fake furniture at high prices in July last year.

Phua was heard telling the reporter that she had remitted one million yuan (RM500,000) to a bank account as requested by him and Cui Bin.

But, she said she did so without consent from her business partners, who later refused to share the fee.

During the conservation, the reporter denied that he wanted money from Phua.

At several junctures, Cui Bin, who arranged the meeting for Phua and the reporter, defended the latter, saying that the money had nothing to do with him.

The 36-minute dialogue was mainly about the reporter telling Phua that he had done his best not to worsen the situation, with more follow-up reports and giving her suggestions how her company could employ better PR practices to overcome the crisis.

In a dramatic twist of events, Da Vinci has now accused the reporter of extorting one million yuan from the company.

On Jan 2, Phua said her company had lodged a report with the police, the General Administration of Press and Publication and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

She claimed that the reporter fabricated reports on Da Vinci’s products, citing six inaccurate points in the reports.

However, the reporter dismissed the allegations of fabrication of news and extortion.

“I am responsible for the authenticity of the two investigative reports and did not conspire or frame Da Vinci. It was slanderous for Phua to say that she gave me one million yuan,” he said in a statement.

He said he was gathering proof for his case and would use legal means to safeguard his lawful rights.