China Charity Crowdfunder Says Sorry for Scams, Vows to Hand Over to NGOs If Problems Persist
Zhang Yushuo
DATE:  Dec 06 2019
/ SOURCE:  yicai
China Charity Crowdfunder Says Sorry for Scams, Vows to Hand Over to NGOs If Problems Persist China Charity Crowdfunder Says Sorry for Scams, Vows to Hand Over to NGOs If Problems Persist

(Yicai Global) Dec. 6 -- Charity crowdfund platform Shuidichou has suspended all its offline activities amid management scams, its founder Shen Peng announced on China's Twitter-like Weibo yesterday, adding that he will hand over the company to non-profit organizations if the situation does not improve.

Founded in July 2016, Shuidichou is a social fundraising platform that mainly helps families with severely ill members and financial difficulties solicit donations.

The company sends fundraising consultants to hospitals in more than 40 Chinese cities to give bedside guidance to patients on embarking on funding campaigns. These guides receive a commission of up to CNY150 (USD21.3) for each financing, plus a salary of CNY10,000 (USD1,415) per month, several media recently reported.

These advisers did not review applicants' financial status or check whether they concealed assets or had health insurance and did not properly oversee use of donations.

The platform's aim at the outset was to set up an offline service team to better help patients inept at online applications whom illness had impoverished, but management issues have now arisen in the process, Shen said.

The company pays commissions to the offline service team; it does not come from fundraising activities, Shen noted.

The firm has identified offline workers mentioned in media reports and will assume liability in this case. It has suspended the offline service team since Dec. 2, Shen added.

Shuidichou has received investment from tech titans Tencent Holdings and Meituan Dianping, public data show. It has elicited more than 20 billion donations for patients, the crowdfund operator said. Its affiliates do business in insurance valuation and brokerage and in Internet hospitals.

Editor: Ben Armour

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Keywords:   Shuidichou