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| Guo Meimei boasted online about her luxurious lifestyle. |
Weng Tao, chief executive of the company, said on his micro blog on sina.com.cn on Sunday that Wang Jun, the alleged boyfriend of the woman at the center of the scandal - 20-year-old Guo Meimei - had resigned on June 26.
Guo had earlier claimed on her micro blog to be the general manager of a company called Red Cross Commerce and had boasted online about her luxurious lifestyle, cars and home.
The Red Cross Society made several announcements on its website distancing itself from Guo after her story broke online and was then picked up by the mainstream media.
The organization said on its website on June 28 that it was not affiliated with an organization called Red Cross Commerce. It also said it did not have an employee named Guo Meimei.
In an interview with Beijing News on Sunday, Weng said he realized Wang was involved with Guo after he saw photos posted online by Guo of a Lamborghini and recognized it as belonging to Wang.
Wang later admitted that Guo was his new girlfriend.
The revelation made Wang unfit to serve on the board because the scandal had hurt the company's credibility, Weng said.
He explained that the company was set up with a 50 million yuan ($9.48 million) investment in 2008 and had signed a contract with China Red Cross and a company called Red Cross of the Commercial Sector to provide residential communities with paramedical, emergency treatment services and fundraising ads for the Red Cross Society.
Weng said the business' biggest shareholder is a company in Shenzhen. Wang, the board member who resigned, holds a 10 per cent stake in that Shenzhen company.
Weng said the scandal has led to the company he heads being put up for sale for 70 per cent of its value. He said the business has not fared well in recent years.
On July 1, the Red Cross Society announced on its website that Red Cross of the Commercial Sector, an organization that has an independent system and runs financial, human resources and administrative affairs, will have all of its activities halted before going through an audit and investigation process.
Many Internet users were unconvinced about reports that Wang was Guo's boyfriend and still believe she has a family connection at a high level within the Red Cross itself. Some said online that they suspect Wang Jun is a fabrication.
Zhong Hongwu, director of the Corporate Social Responsibility Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the public is now showing greater maturity and is becoming more vocal in standing up for its rights and holding government authorities and public institutions accountable.
Zhong stressed that financial transparency is vital if charities are to earn donors' trust and he said the Red Cross in China has room for improvement.
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| She claimed to have a link to China's only national Red Cross society. |
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| Her boasts triggered concern that donated money was being misused. |
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| She claimed to be the general manager of a company called Red Cross Commerce, which she said handled advertising on Red Cross vehicles. |
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| Netizens questioned whether the woman named Guo Meimei had financed her lifestyle out of money that had been donated to the society. |
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| Some even said angrily they would never donate to the society again. |
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| The row broke after Guo uploaded pictures of what she claimed were her Maserati and Lamborghini cars, expensive handbags and palatial villa |
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| She has since become the hottest topic on the country's major micro blog website, weibo.com |
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| The number of her "fans" on the micro blog shot up from several hundred to more than 108,000 by Thursday night |
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| Faced with a huge number of angry netizens asking for an explanation, the Red Cross society posted an announcement on its homepage, saying there was no such company as Red Cross Commerce under the Red Cross Society of China and noting that the organization did not have an employee named Guo Meimei. |
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| China National Radio reported that Beijing police had required Guo to come to Beijing to face questioning |
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| Red Cross had reported the case to the police and said it would take legal action to "safeguard our rights and restore the society's clean reputation. |
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| Now, her boyfriend Wang Jun, who works for Red Cross Society has been deemed unfit to serve on the board because the scandal had hurt the company's credibility. |
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| Weng Tao, chief executive of the company, said that the company was set up with a 50 million yuan ($9.48 million) investment in 2008. |
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| It had signed a contract with China Red Cross and a company called Red Cross of the Commercial Sector to provide residential communities with paramedical, emergency treatment services and fundraising ads for the Red Cross Society. |
source : asiaone
