Recently, there has been a rumor circulating on the Internet that the chairman of AXA Private Equity Fund was suspected of being defrauded by telecommunications and was still "persevering" after being defrauded of 10 million yuan, which has aroused widespread concern.
The Red Star Capital Bureau noticed that in this document, Niu Mou, who claimed to be the chairman and general manager of AXA Private Equity Fund, described himself as "the police officer of the Shanghai Pudong Branch", "the special prosecutor", and "the judge of the Shanghai Intermediate People's Court". The Director of the Financial Bureau of the Procuratorate” reviewed the experience and paid a security deposit of up to 10 million yuan. Later, due to insufficient funds, he borrowed more than 3 million Hong Kong dollars from the company to pay the “handling fee”.
Some netizens commented: "The chairman of the private equity fund will also be defrauded by telecommunications."
Red Star Capital Bureau inquired from the official website of the Asset Management Association of China that the chairman of AXA Private Equity Fund is named "YUANMING NIU", which is consistent with the online statement.
His employment experience is also the same as the online statement.
On January 8, Red Star Capital Bureau contacted BEIBEI ZHANG, director of the compliance department of AXA Private Equity Fund Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
When asked whether Niu suffered from telecommunications fraud and whether the statement was written by himself, BEIBEI ZHANG did not deny it, and replied to the Red Star Capital Bureau: "I have no way to comment on this matter now."
The chairman of the suspected private equity fund issued a statement
Transferred 10 million and still haven't found out that I was cheated
The Red Star Capital Bureau noticed that the above-mentioned online document is called "I Report and Statement", which claims to be Niu, the chairman and general manager of AXA Private Equity Fund, and the date of payment is December 26, 2022.
The article first explained his basic information: 57 years old, British nationality, holding a Hong Kong permanent resident ID card, work experience, etc.
Then Niu described that on November 7, 2022, he received a call from Ms. Fang who claimed to be a staff member of the Wanchai Prevention and Control Center of the Department of Health of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.
This "Ms. Fang" said that the Hong Kong Safe Travel software registered with a mainland mobile phone number under Niu's name showed that she had a (new crown) close contact record on the afternoon of November 6, 2022, and asked him to contact the Department of Health.
But Niu said that the mobile phone number was not owned by him, and then he suspected that his identity information had been leaked and was stolen by criminals, so he asked to report the case.
And this "Miss Fang" who claimed to be from the Hong Kong Department of Health took the initiative to help Niu contact "Officer Li Guoxing of Pudong Branch of Shanghai Public Security Bureau".
After verifying Niu's identity, "Officer Li" told him that he might be related to a major highly confidential case being undertaken by the police and that he needed to ask his superiors immediately.
Then this "case" went to the hands of "Captain Gu" of the criminal investigation team of Pudong Branch, another investigator.
Niu said that "Captain Gu" showed him the case information on WhatsAPP, and instructed him to return to his residence, turn on online monitoring, and asked not to tell anyone about the case information.
After "Captain Gu", there appeared people who claimed to be "Chief Prosecutor Gao Ming", "Judge Zhang Haiping of the Second Division of the Shanghai Intermediate People's Court" and others.
Under their guidance, in order to prove his innocence without affecting the company's business and reputation, Niu applied for release on bail pending further investigation, with an amount of RMB 10 million.
Niu immediately pooled 10 million and called the "designated account" of the Hong Kong ICAC.
The person in charge of the private equity fund responded
Netizen: Private equity directors are cheated, how to help investors make money?
Things are not over here.
Half a month later, the "High Prosecutor" notified Niu through WhatsApp that his application for bail pending trial was approved, saying that he had nothing to do with the case and had been separated from the identity of the suspect involved in the case. return.
However, a person who claimed to be "Director Liang Haojun of the Financial Bureau of the Procuratorate" told Niu that due to the latest anti-money laundering regulations of the country, it would take 6 months to return the money.
Immediately afterwards, "Director Liang" said that there is a quick return method, which requires an additional 30% mortgage deposit, about 3 million Hong Kong dollars, and the procedure can be completed within 2 to 48 hours, and all previous deposits can be refunded quickly.
However, Niu said that he was already in debt of more than several million Hong Kong dollars, and was unable to pay the money due to the request of his borrower friends for the repayment at Christmas and before the year.
So I implore the company to take an emergency short-term loan of 3 million Hong Kong dollars, and strive to return all the bail money and the company's short-term personal loan as soon as possible, so as to get out of the predicament as soon as possible.
The Red Star Capital Bureau found that after writing the statement, Niu may not have realized that it was a "telecom fraud" and hoped to borrow 3 million from the company to pay the above-mentioned "mortgage deposit". The origin of the statement.
This statement has attracted a lot of attention on Weibo and other social platforms. At the same time, netizens also have many doubts about Niu's experience of "released on bail" and "paying a deposit".
Some netizens commented: "Go back to the residence, turn on the online monitoring, and don't tell anyone, this is definitely a telecom fraud!" "The chairman of the private equity fund will also be cheated." "How can this help investors make money?"
In order to verify the authenticity of the online documents, on January 8, the Red Star Capital Bureau contacted BEIBEI ZHANG, director of the compliance department of AXA Private Equity Fund Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
When asked whether Niu suffered from telecommunications fraud and whether the statement was written by himself, BEIBEI ZHANG responded to the Red Star Capital Bureau and said: "I have no way to comment on this matter now."
Lawyer: There are many loopholes in the legal procedures of the entire case
10 million is already a large single case
"Judging from this statement, there are many loopholes in the legal process," said Xu Jiaxiang, a partner of Beijing Strategy Law Firm, to the Red Star Capital Bureau on January 8.
Lawyer Xu said that in the statement, Niu claimed that "Captain Gu" showed him the case information on WhatsApp.
However, in actual legal procedures, the public security organs always notify the parties to accept the investigation in person, by subpoena or by telephone, and will not notify on social software, or even on foreign social software.
Secondly, lawyer Xu said that in Niu's self-report, the progress of the whole case is also very unusual.
It was not in accordance with the procedure to receive a call from the "Hong Kong Department of Health, China" on November 6, and the "Prosecutor General" appeared on November 8.
Generally, the Public Security Bureau first applies for the approval of the arrest, and after the facts of the crime are ascertained, the prosecutor decides whether to approve the application. Here, the prosecutor may intervene in the early stage, and there will be no remote face-to-face interrogation between the chief prosecutor and the parties involved.
Lawyer Xu further mentioned that personnel from the public security organs cannot be guarantors, so what Niu mentioned: "Captain Gu Dong offered to be a guarantor when he was a stranger to me and had never met me." Impossible.
Finally, Lawyer Xu said that in our country, there will not be a deposit of more than 10 million yuan. Generally, it starts at 1,000 yuan. In the cases he handles, the maximum is 10,000 yuan.
Moreover, what Niu mentioned that "the latest national anti-money laundering regulations will take 6 months to return" is also wrong. There is no such provision in my country's anti-money laundering law.
Lawyer Xu told the Red Star Capital Bureau that if what is said in this statement is true, it is very likely that this Niu suffered from telecommunications fraud.
In the cases he has represented in the past, 10 million is regarded as a single case with a relatively large amount.
AXA Private Equity Fund is a newly registered foreign private equity fund last year
The chairman has worked in many well-known insurance companies
AXA Private Equity Fund is one of the newly registered foreign private equity funds in 2022.
The manager, established at the end of 2016 with a registered capital of US$10.5 million, is a wholly foreign-owned enterprise whose parent company is AXA Investment Managers, the asset management segment of AXA Group, one of the world's largest financial and insurance groups. AXA IM.
According to public information, AXA IM was founded by AXA Group in 1994. It currently has more than 2,400 employees in 18 countries and regions around the world. As of the end of 2021, the scale of assets under management exceeds 6 trillion yuan.
Red Star Capital Bureau inquired from the official website of the Asset Management Association of China that the chairman of AXA Private Equity Fund is named "YUANMING NIU", which is consistent with the online statement.
His working experience is also the same as the online statement. He joined AXA Investment Management Asia Co., Ltd. (Hong Kong, China) in October 2020, and then served as the general manager of AXA Overseas Investment Fund Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. from December 2020 .
Since December 2020, he has served as the chairman and general manager of AXA Private Equity Fund Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
Before joining AXA, Niu worked in Swiss Reinsurance Co., Ltd., Generali International Insurance Co., Ltd., Generali International Life Insurance Co., Ltd., China Pacific Insurance (Hong Kong, China) Co., Ltd., and Zhongan Technology (International) Group Co., Ltd. (Hong Kong, China) Pass.
Red Star News reporter Qiang Yamian