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A 29-year-old man in China, who started a fundraising campaign claiming that he needed money for cancer treatment, is accused of using some of the donations to buy an apartment.
Lan, from Yichang in Hubei province, started a fundraising campaign on October 14. He said he had Hodgkin’s lymphoma and needed 900,000 yuan (Rs 1.05 crore) for treatment. To make people believe that he has financial emergency and he really needed money, he claimed that his family has spent a lot of money on his father's medical bills.
Lan’s campaign included videos and messages shared with his former classmates at Nanjing University. He quickly raised over 700,000 yuan from over 4,500 people.
However, on November 6, Lan posted photos of a new apartment in a group chat, writing: “This is my new home.” Donors became suspicious and began investigating.
They found an old marriage advertisement from Lan. The advertisement said his family owned several properties worth millions of yuan and received 145,000 yuan per year from renting out one property. This contradicted Lan's claims of financial hardship.
The crowdfunding platform stopped Lan’s campaign and returned the 278,204 yuan he had already received to the donors. The platform said Lan is banned from using its services.
Lan denied misusing the donations. He said he put 200,000 yuan in a savings account and did not use donations to buy the apartment.
The incident, first reported by Red Star News, has raised concerns about fraud in online charity fundraising. One person commented: “He has lost his chance to freeload, but his deception could make more people hesitant to donate to those genuinely in need.” It is ascertained whether Lan will face legal action.
