Court yet to rule on multi-million qigong charlatan case

A court in Jiangxi Province held the second trial in a 30 million yuan ($4.8 million) dispute between the self-proclaimed qigong master Wang Lin and his former apprentice on Tuesday Morning.

Zou Yong, a businessman and once Wang's apprentice, appealed to the Higher People's Court in Jiangxi Province after an intermediate court ruled that he must pay back the 30 million yuan he was loaned by Wang.

Zou told the Global Times in a phone interview on Tuesday that he borrowed money from Wang but had already paid some of it back through his "tuition."

Zou had allegedly paid Wang over 5 million yuan and bought Wang a Rolls Royce as "tuition" to learn qigong.

"I used to truly believe in Wang's tricks, but I later found that he has moral issues," Zou said. "Now I realize that all of his self-professed power is fake and I feel ashamed that I was once his apprentice."

Wang considered the money a gift and insisted that Zou pay him back.

A staff member from the court told the Global Times on Tuesday that the hearing lasted for about an hour and only the attorneys appeared at court, adding that the verdict has yet to be announced.

Recent media reports exposed Wang as a charlatan. He claimed that he has supernatural powers and one of his most famous tricks is to conjure snakes from an empty basin. He explained that the snakes were freshly caught in the field by his spirit, which could leave his body and travel thousands of miles in the blink of an eye.

The Beijing News reported on Monday that Wang claimed he had treated 50,000 patients, but health authorities from Luxi county, Jiangxi Province, where Wang lived, said he didn't have a license for practicing medicine.

Wang was also said to have participated in loan sharking and introduced rich business people who craved "a little help" to powerful government officials, for a price.

Wang is said to have fled the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong on Friday, according to The Beijing News. He posted his evidence, including Zou's receipt of the loan, on a newly-opened Tencent Weibo account on Tuesday.