In response to the previous lawsuit by Noah Wealth seeking joint compensation of 3.5 billion yuan from JD.com, a spokesperson for JD.com released a statement on December 4th, stating that in the "Chengxing case", JD.com, as an uninformed victim, was involved in a four-year malicious lawsuit, causing significant damage to the company's reputation and rights.
JD Group Statement JD Spokesperson Official WeChat
The Daily Economic News reporter noticed that the factoring contract dispute case between Shanghai Gefei Asset Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Gefei"), a subsidiary of Noah Wealth, and Shanghai Ziyan Automobile Rental Service Co., Ltd. against JD, "Chengxing Series" Company, Suzhou Shengjun and other companies was heard again in the Shanghai Financial Court on November 24th.
This is also the second hearing of the case after the trial in March. The lawsuit quickly sparked heated discussions, and on November 27th, the entry "Carving Two Carrots to Scam 30 Billion" also surged on Weibo's hot search, bringing the once sensational Chengxing fraud case back a lot of attention.
On November 28th, a person related to Noah Wealth replied to a reporter from the Daily Economic News that it was not just a recent decision to sue. Gefei filed a lawsuit as quickly as possible at the time of the incident, striving to protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors to the greatest extent possible.
Subsequently, Noah Wealth also issued a statement on its official website regarding the false information related to the Chengxing case, stating that the content related to the Chengxing case was seriously untrue. Noah Wealth was also one of the victims of the Chengxing case.
Both parties have their own opinions, and the final outcome of this case is yet to be determined by the court.
JD response: Noah Wealth maliciously sues to mislead investors and the public
In response to the lawsuit against Noah Wealth, JD.com stated that during the contract fraud process of Chengxing Group, Chengxing Group companies easily deceived Noah Wealth, known as the "global comprehensive financial platform," and its Gefei assets by using fake JD official seals, fake JD employees, fake JD systems, and false transaction data, and obtained huge financing from Gefei, which directly caused a mine explosion.
BOE reported that in the face of more than two years of continuous fraud, Gefei Asset's due diligence work has shown obvious defects and there are huge loopholes in investment and financing management. Executive Fang Jianhua accepted a huge bribe from Chengxing (which has been sentenced in the first trial), causing significant losses to investors and failing to fulfill corresponding responsibilities and obligations to investors.
The reporter previously learned from insiders that during the entire fraud process, the actual controller of Chengxing, Luo Jing, appointed several people to use fake work cards and visitor cards, infiltrate JD.com, impersonate its employees, and meet with Noah's research personnel.
It is reported that the company that JD uses to transfer accounts is Online Banking (Beijing) Co., Ltd. Luo Jing registered Online Banking Guangdong Company, rented servers, fabricated databases, created plugins to impersonate JD's supplier system platform, modified payment terms, and red notification forms. At the written confirmation stage, Noah sent a letter to JD.com, and Luo Jing appointed relevant personnel to bribe the EMS courier to intercept the email and stamp it with a fake seal.
The judgment also shows that during the fraud process of the "Chengxing series" fraud case, no staff members of JD.com or other companies participated in or were aware of it. The related fraudulent activities that occurred within JD.com were also carried out by Chengxing series personnel through the entire process of fraud.
The executive Fang Jianhua mentioned in JD's statement is a staff member of Noah Fund, a subsidiary of Noah Company, responsible for communicating business with Chengxing Group companies.
According to the first instance judgment documents, starting from September 2016, Chengxing Company engaged in financing business with Noah Company and its subsidiary Gefei, and fraudulently obtained Gefei's money. In order to seek illegitimate benefits, with the approval of the defendant Luo Jing, the defendant Luo Lan repeatedly gave Fang Jianhua a total of more than HKD 3 million, equivalent to more than RMB 2 million.
According to Fang Jianhua's confession, he used his position to provide convenience for Luo Jing Company and repeatedly accepted bribes. The criminal judgment in Yangpu District, Shanghai shows that Fang Jianhua has been sentenced to prison for accepting more than 2 million yuan from Luo Lan, a Chengxing company, in his business work, and for committing the crime of bribery as a non-state employee.
The "unbelievable" high-value lawsuit of JD Noah, each holding their own opinion
At present, the criminal case related to the Chengxing case has been sentenced in the first instance, and the actual controller of Chengxing, Luo Jing, and other fraud suspects have been sentenced to prison. The seemingly well-organized fraud case now has branches and branches, and JD.com and Noah Wealth each have their own opinions.
JD.com stated in a statement that according to public information, Noah Wealth has experienced more than ten similar incidents in recent years, facing problems in the redemption of billions of funds, and has repeatedly concealed information from investors. It has also been warned and punished by regulatory authorities, indicating its long-term existence of serious risk control deficiencies.
JD.com also pointed out that Noah Wealth and Gefei Asset still disregard the trust of investors, refuse to examine their internal management issues, and maliciously launch an incredible high-value lawsuit against third-party JD.com, attempting to confuse the public, continue to mislead investors and the general public, shift responsibility, and seek a "scapegoat" for themselves. We believe that the court will make a fair judgment on this case.
On November 28th, a person related to Noah Wealth responded to a reporter from the Daily Economic News that as a private fund manager, Gefei operates in accordance with legal requirements in the fundraising, investment, and management of Chengxing Fund. Chengxing Fund products have completed the registration procedures with the Fund Industry Association. The manager will continue to fulfill obligations such as information disclosure in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements and contractual agreements, and diligently and responsibly safeguard the rights and interests of investors.
In response to this lawsuit, individuals related to Noah Wealth stated that they did not choose to sue just recently. Gefei took the relevant legal action as quickly as possible when the incident occurred, striving to protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors to the greatest extent possible. This trial is not the first time, and due to the involvement of other criminal procedures in the case, the trial time has been delayed.
Regarding the potential losses that this incident may cause to the company and the impact on financial data, Noah Wealth insiders stated that the wealth management industry is in a period of eliminating falsehood and preserving truth, and non-standard asset allocation is a product of a special historical period. After the introduction of new regulations on asset management, the overall direction of regulation is to promote the transformation of such businesses, and it is inevitable to withdraw from the historical stage. Since the new regulations on asset management, Noah has initiated standardization transformation and quickly completed the transformation.
The losses caused by the Chengxing case and the resulting litigation have been fully provisioned by Noah Wealth in the fourth quarter of 2020 for the expenses related to the previous settlement plan, which has completely eliminated the uncertainty caused by the Chengxing incident on the company's future performance. JD.com, on the other hand, stated in a statement that it has suffered significant damage to its reputation and rights due to being involved in a four-year malicious lawsuit.
The 3.5 billion yuan lawsuit triggered by the 30 billion yuan Chengxing fraud case is awaiting the final judgment of the court. The Daily Economic News will also continue to monitor the progress of the case and its follow-up.
