Well-known philanthropist must be investigated

Chen Guangbiao had a meal in a villager's home in Xiadapa village in Southwest China’s Guizhou province on Oct 10, 2011.[Photo/CFP]

The controversial philanthropist Chen Guangbiao is reportedly suspected of forging the death certificate of a shareholder of one of his companies in order to evade debt. Beijing News commented on Saturday:

Chen, a 48-year-old billionaire and president of Jiangsu Huangpu Recycling Resources Co, reportedly decided to shut down one of his companies after failing to keep it afloat, and sought to avoid paying the company's debts by faking the death of a shareholder who is still alive.

That the shareholder Chen and his partners claimed dead is still alive and well, suggests they provided fake evidence in court. That, if confirmed, is more than enough to hold the parties concerned accountable. It is time that the Nanjing police launched an investigation.

However, what has been equally striking is the local police's silence over the many allegations against Chen. Earlier this year, police discovered some 170 forged seals in Chen's company in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, which were allegedly used to sign contracts worth over 300 million yuan ($45 million). However, they refrained from disclosing any further information after more than half a year, fueling public suspicions that Chen is above the law and immune from punishment.

Even if what he claimed is true－that he had made donations of more than 2 billion yuan ($300 million) and helped more than 700,000 poor families by 2012－it is no excuse for breaking the law. Forgery and providing fake evidence are a lot more serious and damaging than his questionable charitable giving and promotion stunts.