Woman in Chinese charity scandal reignites controversy

Guo Meimei, at the center of a charity scandal, says she made a huge mistake.

A woman who sparked Internet controversy by flaunting her wealth three years ago has again come under the media spotlight for her involvement in the sex trade and gambling.

In 2011, Guo Meimei gained notoriety in China after bragging about her Maserati and luxury bags on social media while claiming she managed an organization under the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC). She was 20 years old at that time.

The scandal dealt a major blow to the reputation of the state-owned RCSC and caused a massive drop in donations due to public concerns over embezzlement of charity funds.

Now the infamous online celebrity faces possible prison time after her confessions of prostitution and gambling were made public by police on Monday.

"I feel very regretful thinking about what I have done over the past several years. I will never gamble, flaunt wealth or do anything to violate the law or morality again," Guo confessed in a detention center in Beijing on an unknown date following her arrest last month.

She was arrested on July 9 for participating in gambling during the World Cup and organizing other gambling activities.

In February 2013, Guo and her boyfriend began inviting people to gamble in a rented house, deducting three to five percent of the gambling funds for themselves, according to police.

The police also said Guo had participated in the sex trade "many times" at a price of hundreds of thousands of yuan each time. Prostitution is illegal in China.

According to Guo's confession, she flew to south China's Guangdong Province to meet a man in July 2013 after the man offered her a down payment of 50,000 yuan (8,100 US dollars). The man offered another 400,000 yuan to have sex with her.

According to her personal assistant, surnamed Lu, Guo often traveled under the guise of "commercial performance," but each time she met with men and stayed with them in hotels for the night. "I would find bundles of cash when I packed for her the next day," Lu said.

Since her confession was released Monday, Guo's latest scandal has made headlines and provoked outrage on social media in China.

"Is this kind of life really happy? Is it worth flaunting?" commented "paofuxiaojieVIVO" on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo.

"Guo Meimei has become an example of social 'negative force,' which has seriously affected the online environment," wrote user "tututusiji-" on Weibo.

DESTROYING SCANDAL

Guo emerged as a controversial figure for her suspected links to the RCSC, but in her confession she said her wealth had no ties to the charity.

Previously named Guo Meiling, she was born in 1991 in a small city in central China's Hunan Province. Her father had a criminal record for swindling, her aunt was once detained for prostitution and her uncle had been in prison for selling drugs, according to the police.

She lived with her mother, who made a living running bathhouses and tea houses. According to police, from 2008 to 2009 she studied at the Beijing Film Academy, where she was allegedly "admitted by means of money," and then worked in Beijing as an unknown actress before becoming the mistress of a 42-year-old businessman from Shenzhen, surnamed Wang, in 2010.

Wang said in a confession that he gave Guo 50,000 yuan each time she visited him from Beijing.

Wang said he bought Guo a luxury car worth 2.4 million yuan as a birthday gift. Guo later posted photos of the car online while claiming she worked at "China Red Cross Commerce," which swiftly aroused public outrage.

Guo admitted the RCSC title was fabricated, but the scandal caused one of Wang's commercial projects to fail, leading to their breakup.

"She knew that I have a family. She had eyes on my money and I liked her youth. We just took what we needed from each other," said Wang, who was also detained for suspected crimes on July 24, according to media reports, though police did not detail the crime. Wang said he lost his reputation and property because of Guo and described Guo as a "lifelong nightmare."

The scandal has also been a nightmare for Chinese charity groups. Although the RCSC denied the existence of a "Red Cross Commerce" subsidiary and held various press briefings vowing transparency, the scandal led to a nearly 90-percent drop in donations to national charity organizations over the following six months in 2011.

The incident also prompted management reforms within the RCSC, which has struggled to restore its credibility in China.

Guo said she wants to clear the RCSC's name and apologize for the loss she caused to the charity and those who missed out on assistance due to shrinking donations.

"I made a very big mistake just to satisfy my vanity ... I want to express my deep apologies to the RCSC, and to the public and those in need of help, I feel even sorrier," Guo said in the confession.