The case involving Taiwan-born celebrity couple, Chang Ting and Lin Rui-yang, has been officially dismissed by the Yuhua District People’s Court in Shijiazhuang, North China’s Hebei Province, leading to the lifting of a freeze on the assets of the applicants, comprising a total of 96 properties and multiple bank accounts, according to a Thursday article by the state-owned Legal Weekly.
The pair was caught in an alleged pyramid scheme since 2021. Court documents revealed that the Yuhua District People’s Court in Shijiazhuang had, on July 20, 2021, ordered the sealing of 96 properties owned by them, which were estimated to be worth approximately 1.7 billion yuan.
According to the court judgment, county and city-level industrial and commercial and market supervision departments should report cases of online pyramid schemes to the provincial-level industrial and commercial and market supervision departments before filing or at the same time as filing. “Now, this reporting requirement has been revoked, and the conditions for the continued implementation of asset preservation measures in this case involving suspected online pyramid schemes are no longer met,” the court judgment said.
An attorney representing the couple confirmed to the Chengdu.cn media outlet that the court had issued a ruling in this case back in July. The frozen bank accounts of the pair and their affiliated companies have been unfrozen, and their bank accounts have been unsealed.
Multiple hashtags related to this case have topped the trending list on China’s X-like platform Sina Weibo. One of the hashtags, “The case involving Chang Ting has been dismissed,” has been viewed about 100 million times as of Thursday night, garnering more than 2,000 comments.
Lin has posted a video responding to the case, saying “Our case has finally been concluded, and it’s a very positive outcome. We will now call back our sales agents worldwide.”
According to the information from domestic corporate portal Qichacha, Lin is the legal representative of the Shanghai Dowell Trading Co. Ltd, which was established in 2023 with a registered capital of over 230 million yuan ($31.4 million). The company is the main operator of cosmetics and skin care products brand TST Tin’Secret. Lin and Chang gained their fame through their roles in popular TV dramas back in the 1990s and 2000s.
The market regulatory authority of Yuhua district in Shijiazhuan said in late December that it has been investigating Dowell since June 5, 2021 after getting public reports. The authority applied to the court for preservation measures given that Dowell has transferred and concealed the pyramid scheme funds through financial institutions.
In January 2022, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said at a press conference that this case is a purely commercial matter and has nothing to do with relations across the Taiwan Straits.
