97 Thousand Dollars: A Cancer Patient in China Stole Donations from Donors (2 photo)

A young man surnamed Lang was diagnosed with a severe form of cancer. He hid his parents' condition while begging for money from charities to pay for his treatment.





A 29-year-old cancer patient in China who tried to raise 900,000 yuan ($125,000) online for his treatment has raised suspicions of embezzlement after posting photos of his new apartment.

The post came shortly after the man raised more than 700,000 yuan ($97,000) in a few days.

A man surnamed Lan from Yichang in central China's Hubei Province was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a rare form of cancer, and launched his fundraising campaign on a popular crowdfunding platform on October 14.

The patient introduced himself as a 2020 graduate of Nanjing University in Jiangsu Province, north of Shanghai, who worked for a major internet company in Guangzhou in southern China before being diagnosed with the serious illness. He even provided an official certificate that confirmed he had lymphoma.



Lan said his family's money was used to treat his father, who died of illness. After that, the family was in debt.

According to his friends, the patient's fundraising campaign was widely circulated, with requests posted in alumni groups and on social media. He even made a video in which he appealed to people.

However, donors began to question Lan's financial transparency when he shared images of an apartment he had just purchased in a group chat on November 6. He had just raised $97,000 (700,000 yuan) in a few days.

In addition, Lan said, "This is my new house, the total cost is 738,000 yuan."

It also turned out that his family owned several properties, including two apartments worth up to 1 million yuan (US$140,000), and a commercial property worth over 3.8 million yuan that generated 145,000 yuan in annual rental income.

And his profile on the crowdfunding platform only listed one property worth between 300,000 and 500,000 yuan (US$40,000 and US$70,000) and a car that was supposedly for sale.

Due to this situation, the crowdfunding platform closed Lan's account on November 7, by which time he had already received more than 270,000 yuan from 4,536 contributors.

In turn, Lan claimed that he put 200,000 yuan from the donations into a savings account, denying accusations that he used the funds to buy real estate.

The crowdfunding platform subsequently released an official statement confirming that the man had concealed his family's true financial situation, and that the 278,204 yuan would be returned to donors. In addition, Lan was added to the platform's blacklist.