Two men have been detained for fraud after allegedly pocketing money donated via live online-streaming, police in southwest China's Sichuan Province said Wednesday.
The men, surnamed Yang and Liu, live-streamed the distribution of cash for a poverty-stricken area in Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Liangshan, but asked for the money back after the streaming, said a police officer with the local public security bureau.
They also requested local villagers to return most of their "donated" goods, such as eggs and pencils.
Police started investigating the case early November following an online video showing Yang, under the screen name "Brother Jie," posing to give villagers money but asking for it back later. Liu, calling himself "Black Uncle" online, was captured saying they had done the live streaming to make money.
The video angered netizens, demanding punishment for the fraud and calling for stronger supervision of live streaming.
With the help of the live streaming website "Kuaishou," police caught Yang mid-November in the city of Suzhou, Anhui Province, and Liu in mid-December in the city of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.
Both confessed that they had live-streamed many times since September to gain online donations. At the time they were arrested, Yang and Liu had made 249,000 yuan (36,000 U.S. dollars) and 186,000 yuan respectively, by cashing-in virtual gifts donated by netizens.
Further investigation is under way.
