Fan Bingbing now rumored to have been arrested in connection with tax evasion mess

A few weeks ago, reports emerged that actress Fan Bingbing had been banned from acting for three years in connection to a tax evasion scandal. Details were sparse and nothing official was announced, but she has now maintained radio silence for over two months and counting.

Now rumors are emerging on Weibo that she has actually been arrested.

Rumors about Fan’s arrest come from Huang Yiqing (黄毅清), the ex-husband of famous Chinese actress Huang Yi (黄奕). On August 31, Huang Yiqing posted on his Weibo account (@AndyHYQ) (3.3 million followers): “Some breaking news – I just spoke to a friend whose wife works at the Wuxi prosecutor’s office, who has confirmed that Fan Bingbing has indeed been arrested.” Wuxi, in Jiangsu province, is where Fan’s studio is based. Since 2013, it is illegal to spread rumors on Chinese social media; people spreading ‘malicious’ messages that are forwarded more than 500 times could potentially face legal punishment. Huang later added: “You should know, I’m not just posting fabricated stuff on Weibo for sensationalism to attract attention. I wouldn’t do anything that low.(..) Things I post I know are from a trustworthy source.”

Famous Weibo blogging account ‘Labi Xiaoqiu’ (@辣笔小球), run by journalist Qiu Ziming (仇子明), also wrote about Fan Bingbing today, suggesting that the actress has already been “taken away” in July, and further adding that she has since also separated from her partner Li Chen (李晨).

I mean it’s hardly anything concrete, but given that almost none of this has been addressed publicly so far, it almost seems like this kind of stuff is all we’re gonna get.

What a mess.