Fan Bingbing – the most famous actor in China at the moment – has returned to the public eye after months of being mysteriously AWOL from Hollywood, reportedly due to allegations of tax evasions from the Peoples Republic Of China and its Communist Party resulting in fines of around $97 million.
It’s believed that the Chinese government is using Fan’s high profile and wide influence as a warning to others who are tempted to commit tax fraud within the entertainment industry.
Fan, who is most recognised in the Western world as Blink in X-Men: Days Of Future Past, made a statement to her 62 million-odd followers on Weibo, admitting to using methods of split contracts to get around China’s laws on how much actors are allowed to earn.
.@realBingbingFan has just posted a statement to Weibo after a 4-month hiatus.
“Without the Party and the state’s good policies, without the love from the people, there would have been no Fan Bingbing”https://t.co/OaCEfhg0zK pic.twitter.com/2SN8brpY5G
— Fergus Ryan (@fryan) October 3, 2018
She said that she’s spent the last couple of months out of the limelight to sort things out with tax authorities, and also credited the Communist Party for her success as an actor, stating that “without the Party and the state’s good policies, without the love from the people, there would have been no Fan Bingbing.”
When Fan Bingbing initially fell off the map in Hollywood back in July, speculation rose that she had been detained for committing tax fraud. Sponsors – including Aussie-based vitamins giants Swisse – were quick to remove her from their advertising while the investigation was being carried out.
It was reported by a Hong Kong newspaper that Fan was indeed being secretly detained by authorities up until two weeks ago, when she was released and permitted to return to Beijing.
Authorities have said that as this is Fan Bingbing’s first offence of tax evasion, no criminal charges will be laid against her if she pays the fine issued to her by a due date.
