Recently, there has been a series of corruption scandals at ByteDance, with the latest news revealing that 61 employees were dismissed for alleged violations, including 4 individuals who are facing criminal charges.
On April 29th, a reporter from Securities Times obtained an internal anti-corruption report from ByteDance, revealing 61 cases of employee misconduct categorized into four major types: criminal offenses, violations of integrity and honesty system, violations of conflict of interest system, and violations of information security system.
Among them, 4 employees are suspected of criminal offenses, with the police initiating investigations and taking compulsory measures such as criminal detention or bail pending trial.
Former Douyin employee Lu Ying abused his position to illegally accept substantial kickbacks from external partners. On January 26th, Lu Ying was placed under criminal detention by the public security authorities. ByteDance has since terminated Lu Ying’s employment, revoked his stock options and year-end bonus eligibility, and joined the Sunshine Integrity Alliance and the Corporate Anti-Corruption Alliance.
Former Lifestyle Services employee Gao Shengjun misused his position to introduce service providers in violation of regulations, in exchange for kickbacks totaling 40,000 yuan. On January 17th, Gao Shengjun was investigated for alleged bribery of non-state personnel by the public security authorities and placed under bail pending trial. The company has dismissed Gao Shengjun and held his immediate superiors accountable.
Former outsourced staff in product development and engineering architecture, Cao Zhengzheng, illegally used fake accounts in collaboration with external organizations to inflate Douyin account metrics and generate illicit income. In March of this year, Cao Zhengzheng was subjected to criminal detention by the public security authorities for alleged illegal business operations.
Former Douyin Livestream employee Zhou Run abused his work privileges for personal gain. In January, Zhou Run was investigated for suspected criminal offenses by the public security authorities and placed under criminal detention. The company has terminated Zhou Run’s employment, revoked his stock options, and held his immediate superiors accountable.
In a previous report in March, ByteDance disclosed that in the whole year of 2023, they handled a total of 177 cases of corruption-related irregularities, resulting in the dismissal of 136 individuals for crossing ethical boundaries and the prosecution of 23 individuals for suspected criminal activities.