Anti-fraud activist accused of fraud

Luo Yonghao, founder of an English training school, yesterday reported to the police and taxation departments that the "anti-fraud funds" for Fang Zhouzi, famous for battling against pseudoscience and academic misconduct, involve money fraud and tax evasion.

But Fang yesterday responded that he does not administer the funds, and Luo is in fact seeking revenge after Fang accused Luo of illegally running a training school and tax evasion early this year.

The first fund was founded in 2006 for the purpose of anti-pseudoscience research, and another was set up in 2010 for personal safety protection for anti-fraud campaigners, according to the official fundraising website. The money was raised on behalf of individuals rather than an organization.

Luo, who admitted he had once donated 2,000 yuan ($317) to the fund in 2006, accused the fund administrators of failing to explain the details of the expenses to the donors.

As seen from the website, the money raised for personal safety protection of anti-fraud campaigners was 728,000 yuan and $985, of which 590,000 yuan had been spent up to March 13 with no detailed breakdown of the expenditure.

"I talked to security protection companies, and I believe that spending 590,000 yuan to protect Fang is ridiculous," Luo told Hunan Province paper, the Xiaoxiang Morning Post.

Yesterday, Luo rented a bus to transport 20 reporters to the public security and taxation bureau in Haidian district to report his allegation.

The public security bureau said police are investigating Luo's report, according to the Legal Mirror yesterday.

In the afternoon, Fang made a statement on Sina Weibo, claiming Luo did this because he is attempting to tarnish Fang's reputation.

"The police didn't ask me to assist in the investigation," Fang told the Global Times, "The police may consider the report as a joke."

Fang said that the fundraising started after he had trouble with a lawsuit in 2006. After August 2010, when he was assaulted in an attack masterminded by Xiao Chuanguo, a medical professor from Zhejiang Province, many Web users supported him by donating money.

"I didn't want to accept the donations myself," said Fang, "So other people established the fundraising group, which is administered by lawyer Peng Jian, to receive and manage the money."

"According to the regulations, the use of the personal safety funds will be monitored by two people inside the group, rather than donors," Fang said, "With the aim of preventing the details of safety protection from being leaked, which may cause danger to the subjects."

"Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, also has special funds for personal safety," claimed Fang, "And it is a common sense that the details of safety protection should not be unveiled."