A talent show artist commits fraud—who can help when the road to stardom is rough?
[4] Compiled from: Red Star News
Last night, the news that former idol trainee Liu was sentenced to three years and four months in prison for fraud topped the trending searches. It is reported that Liu is Liu Cheng-yi, a former reality show star, who claimed to have connections in the entertainment industry and could help others debut in an idol group. Two women were deceived out of more than 200,000 yuan over two years after believing her lies. Liu Cheng-yi was recently sentenced by the Tongzhou Court to three years and four months in prison for fraud, along with a fine of 30,000 yuan.
Case review
After Liu made his debut in 2019, he released 10 singles and repeatedly appeared on talent shows across major platforms, but none gained much traction. Nevertheless, his frequent participation in these shows brought him into contact with television directors, agents, and others in the industry—figures who, in the eyes of Xiaomei, an ordinary outsider, made Liu appear to be a seasoned insider.
[4] Xiaomei, a high school graduate with a youthful and attractive appearance, aspired to become a star. After drifting in Beijing for years without opportunities, she met Liu Moumou through several contacts with entertainment companies. Liu Moumou repeatedly told Xiaomei that she was forming a girl group and that Xiaomei had good qualifications meeting the group's standards, promising to arrange for her to debut on a show. Overjoyed at being appreciated by Liu Moumou, Xiaomei immediately agreed.
Liu claimed that today's girl group stars all need academic credentials, and since Xiaomei only had a high school diploma, he could arrange for her to be enrolled at a music conservatory so that her educational background would not be attacked by haters. He told her that enrollment required a tuition payment of 70,000 yuan. Xiaomei, suspecting no deceit, immediately transferred the money to Liu. Later, Liu falsely claimed that he would arrange for Xiaomei to appear on a large-scale talent show and, under various pretexts such as paying kickbacks to the director, solicited more than 200,000 yuan from Xiaomei in total between 2019 and 2021. Whenever Xiaomei asked when she would be able to appear on the show, Liu always put her off with various excuses.
Over time, Xiaomei grew suspicious and went to the music academy that Liu had claimed to inquire about her enrollment status, only to be told that she was not a student there and that Liu had never processed any admission for her. Alarmed, Xiaomei sought out Xiaohong, Liu's junior fellow apprentice, whom she had met through Liu's introduction. Liu had also claimed that Xiaohong was one of the girl group members she had selected and had collected over 60,000 yuan from Xiaohong on the same pretext of appearing on programs. When Xiaomei and Xiaohong confronted Liu, Liu admitted that she had long since squandered the money and had no means to repay them. Left with no other option, the two decided to call the police.
"Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 266
Whoever defrauds public or private property, if the amount is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, or public surveillance, and shall also, or shall only, be fined; if the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years, and shall also be fined; if the amount is especially huge or there are other especially serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment, and shall also be fined or have property confiscated. Where this Law otherwise provides, such provisions shall prevail.
[1] The author's perspective
First, the perpetrator committed a fraudulent act, which in form includes two types: fabricating facts and concealing the truth. In essence, Liu fabricated his ability to help others form a group and debut, causing the two victims to fall into a mistaken understanding, thereby transferring their property to Liu and suffering financial losses. In fact, whether fabricating or concealing past, present, or future facts, as long as it has the above content, it constitutes a fraudulent act.
Nowadays, it is understandable that some girls, whether out of a desire for beauty or fame, hope to become stars. But they never imagined that behind these seemingly dazzling halos, there might be dark corners and false scams. Therefore, while blindly pursuing fame, one must also see clearly whether there are traps that lead to ruin. Sometimes, the pie that falls from the sky may not be a pie at all, but an unattainable illusion.
