On July 23, the news of the former executive of “The Voice of China” production company being arrested on suspicion of corruption has stirred up attention as it trended on social media. According to mainland media reports, this former executive had been involved in improper transactions with the CEO of Guangzhou Baosheng Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“Baosheng Company”) for several years, involving nearly ten million yuan.
Recently, a staff member close to the top management of Baosheng Company, using the alias Li Ming, revealed that they suspected the CEO, Weng Ruhai, had engaged in improper financial transactions with Huang Yiou, former senior executive of Canxing Company, involving an amount close to ten million yuan.
Allegedly, this illegal kickback was meant to ensure a long-term cooperation between Baosheng Company and Canxing Company’s affiliated enterprise, Dream Sound Strong Voice Culture Communication (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (“Dream Sound Company”).
Canxing Company was founded in 2006 and primarily engaged in the production and operation of television and internet programs. The company gained public attention with the production of the popular show “The Voice of China” in 2012.
In 2023, the “Li Wen’s pre-death accusation voice recording exposure” incident once again brought Canxing Company into the public eye. Baosheng Company, on the other hand, was involved in copyright agency services, mainly providing song copyright services for karaoke businesses.
Li Ming recalled that in 2016, Baosheng Company’s CEO Weng Ruhai informed the team that he had reached an agreement with Huang Yiou, the person in charge of Canxing Company, to exclusively license popular programs like “The Voice of China” and “The Best Chinese Songs” to Baosheng Company for karaoke video production, with an annual authorization fee of approximately nineteen million yuan.
Years later, Baosheng Company signed a new contract with a company under Hunan Radio and Television that had essentially the same content. In this new contract, the number of authorized songs exceeded the quantity provided by Dream Sound Company, but the agreed-upon fee was only a few million yuan annually, significantly lower than the nineteen million yuan agreed with Dream Sound Company. “Later, Weng Ruhai said Dream Sound Company was willing to renegotiate a new contract at a reduced price of five million yuan,” Li Ming said, highlighting the significant price difference that raised suspicions within the company, questioning where the remaining amount went. Although the new contract was not eventually signed, this series of questions laid the groundwork for subsequent investigations.
In 2023, Weng Ruhai suddenly disappeared from the company. Initially, the internal staff believed it was due to personal reasons. But by 2024, over a year had passed without Weng Ruhai’s appearance. It wasn’t until the recent months when the police came to Baosheng Company for evidence collection that the employees learned their missing CEO had been arrested on suspicion of embezzlement.
Li Ming disclosed that the dispute between Huang Yiou and Weng Ruhai over a sum of money led Canxing Company to report to the police. The investigation revealed the illegal activities of the two individuals, ultimately resulting in their arrest.
According to the indictment by the Huangpu District People’s Procuratorate of Shanghai, in 2017, Huang Yiou and Weng Ruhai fabricated consultation fees during the negotiation process with Baosheng Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, deceiving Dream Sound Company, affiliated with Canxing Company, into transferring one million and eight hundred thousand yuan to Guangzhou Jiehe Psychological Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“Jiehe Company”), a company designated by Weng Ruhai and privately shared the related funds.
In April 2023, both individuals were criminally detained by the Shanghai Public Security Bureau and formally arrested in May of the same year. They are currently detained at the Huangpu District Detention Center in Shanghai. It is reported that the case has not yet gone to trial.
According to the business registration information, Jiehe Company, which received the transfer, was registered in 2002, with Zhang Xinhua listed as a shareholder, and Weng Ruhai was the applicant at the time of registration. Li Ming revealed that Zhang Xinhua and Weng Ruhai had a previous marital relationship.
Li Ming pointed out that at this point, Baosheng Company’s internal realization of the additional benefits unlawfully gained by Weng Ruhai and the counterpart’s senior executives during their long-term cooperation. Police investigations confirmed their suspicion of jointly misappropriating funds from Canxing Company, leading Baosheng Company to suspect they might have similarly misused Baosheng’s funds.
To further probe into the matter, Baosheng Company sought help from insiders at Canxing Company. The insider revealed that Canxing Company had also paid over nine million yuan to Guangzhou Longxi Network Technology Co., Ltd., wholly owned by Wang Yuying. Li Ming highlighted that this company was actually a shell company controlled by Weng Ruhai, which ostensibly received a substantial amount labeled as “Karaoke Promotion” funding from Canxing Company, but in reality, these funds were used as illegal kickbacks, funneled back to himself through complex financial transactions.
Can the information revealed by insiders be trusted? What is the relationship between Longxi Company and Weng Ruhai?
According to business registration records, in 2018 Longxi Company appointed Weng Ruhai as a joint agent on behalf. Additionally, business records indicate that the addresses on the identity cards of Weng Ruhai and shareholder Wang Yuying are identical, belonging to the same household, with Wang Yuying being 80 years old, showing a 26-year age difference with Weng Ruhai.
“Qichacha” shows that Longxi Company was established in June 2017, registered primarily for scientific research and technical services, including electrical machinery testing services and electronic product testing, but did not cover “Karaoke Promotion.” The company has no publicly disclosed employee scale, with zero insured personnel in 2022. Since its establishment, Longxi Company has changed its operating location three times, with the initial address being a mere 12 square meters. It is worth noting that the lessor in the second address change was shareholder Zhang Xinhua from the aforementioned Jiehe Company.