Chinese Man Who Bought New Apartment After Receiving Donations
Permanent Ban on Fundraising Activities Amid Growing Controversy
A man in his 20s from China has been criticized after it was revealed that he used online donations intended for cancer treatment to purchase an apartment.
According to Hong Kong media South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 15th, Lan Mo (29), who lives in Hubei Province in central China, was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a rare type of cancer, and started a crowdfunding campaign on the 14th of last month. The target amount was 900,000 yuan (approximately 175 million KRW).
He introduced himself as a 2020 graduate of Nanjing University and said he worked at a large internet company in Guangzhou before his cancer diagnosis. Lan said, "This disease is difficult to treat." He also appealed for help, saying that his family’s finances were already depleted due to his father’s long illness and that they were in significant debt. Lan created a video sharing his personal story and also shared bank account information for donations.
The story spread widely on social networking services (SNS), and netizens began donating for him. However, on the 6th, news broke that Lan had purchased a new home worth more than 700,000 yuan, sparking public outrage. It was reported that Lan recently bought an apartment for about 738,000 yuan (approximately 142.5 million KRW). Furthermore, controversy grew when it was revealed that Lan’s family owns two apartments worth about 1 million yuan (approximately 190 million KRW) and earns an annual rental income of 145,000 yuan (approximately 27.8 million KRW).
Eventually, the funding was stopped, and on the 7th, the crowdfunding platform announced that Lan had concealed his actual financial situation. Up to that point, Lan had received more than 270,000 yuan (approximately 52 million KRW) from 4,536 donors on the platform. The platform operator stated, "Lan has been blacklisted and is permanently banned from conducting fundraising activities on our platform." However, it is still unclear whether Lan will face legal punishment.
Local netizens expressed their disappointment over the news. One netizen said, "His fraudulent actions may make people hesitate to donate to those who truly need help." Another netizen said, "This is why I don’t donate on platforms. You can’t know if the beneficiary really needs help," adding, "I only donate to people I know well and trust."
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