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BEIJING (AP) — In a China awash with fake iPhones, pirated DVDs and
knockoff Louis Vuitton bags, rice trader Lin Chunping took fakery to a whole
new level: He invented a U.S. bank and claimed he bought it.
The little-known businessman shot to fame in January when state media
reported that he had taken over Delaware-based Atlantic Bank. The
unprecedented acquisition brought him praise: His hometown gave him a
prestigious political appointment and state media called his business
experience "legendary."
The only thing that may have been legendary is Lin's audacity. Not only did
he not buy Atlantic Bank in Delaware for $60 million as he claimed, but
there is no Atlantic Bank in that state.
Chinese reporters could not locate an Atlantic Bank or a bank registration
by Lin in Delaware. He's under arrest for an unrelated fraud and has been
forced to give up his municipal-level appointment to the Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference, the government's top advisory body.
Lin, who was arrested in early June, could not be reached for comment. But
the 41-year-old's short, spectacular rise and fall shows how fakery has
evolved in China, morphing from the manufacture of copycat goods to entire
institutions and careers.
[Related: Chinese artist Ai Weiwei barred from court]
Last year, officials found five fake Apple stores in the southwestern city
of Kunming. The stores were modeled after the U.S. company's iconic stores
right down to the winding staircase and the staff in blue T-shirts.
In early June, local press in eastern Shandong province exposed a fake
university. Students who did not score high enough on the national college
entrance exam to make it into university received sham admission letters to
the Shandong Institute of Light Industry, a real school. The students paid
nearly 30,000 yuan ($4,800) over the course of four years to attend classes
at the institute.
Weeks before graduation, the students learned they would not get diplomas
because they were not officially enrolled at the school but in a private
training program that rents space from the institute, according to the
report in the state-run Jinan Times. The program organizer had disappeared,
the newspaper reported.
Among students, getting ahead by padding resumes or other subterfuge is
common.
Zinch China, the Chinese arm of U.S.-based educational networking site Zinch
.com, estimates that 90 percent of recommendation letters to U.S. schools
are fake, that 70 percent of the essays are written by someone else and that
half the transcripts are fabricated. Zinch drew the numbers from interviews
with Chinese students, parents and agents.
Experts point to many reasons for the widespread of lack of scruples, from
the need to be hyper-competitive to succeed in an over-populated society to
an ancient sage who countenanced lying to achieve a higher purpose.
He Huaihong, a Peking University philosophy professor who teaches ethics,
takes aim at China's politics, specifically the disconnect between an
avowedly communist leadership and the capitalist economy it oversees.
"Jargon left from a century of political revolution is so disconnected with
reality that the society is filled with meaningless, empty talk," said He.
Lin told Chinese reporters that it took him two years to negotiate the
purchase of the U.S. bank, and that the bank had declared bankruptcy in 2008
because of the financial crisis. To add more flair to the story, Lin told
reporters that the bank had been running for 85 years and was run by Jews,
who are stereotypically seen by many Chinese as having superior business
skills.
[Related: A Look at Economic Developments Around the Globe]
Lin's story was particularly captivating because overseas acquisitions are a
point of pride in China, showcasing its rising economic power. Lin's
supposed purchase of an American bank signaled both Chinese triumph and U.S.
decline.
His claims also cheered his hometown, the eastern city of Wenzhou, which was
reeling from a government-imposed credit crunch that had ruined some highly
leveraged entrepreneurs, some of whom fled the city and their debts. A few
committed suicide.
"People were shocked that an obscure businessman bought a foreign bank and
it was a U.S. bank nonetheless. He wasn't even a banker to begin with," said
Zhu Xiaochuan, a researcher on China's financial law at CEIBS Lujiazui
Institute of International Finance in Shanghai. "The news must be credible
because it was in mainstream media. The public were amazed how wealthy
Wenzhou businessmen were."
A profile on the website of the ruling Communist Party's newspaper People's
Daily depicts Lin as sharp and hardworking, selling buttons as a teenager,
then purchasing a copper and gold mine in Ghana and investing in the rice
business in China. The profile is still available online.
Lin said he renamed the bank USA New HSBC Federation Consortium Inc. and
that the institution had already attracted $40 million in deposits with the
prospect of turning an annual profit of $5 million to $6 million. The new
name had an air of respectability, borrowing from the London-based global
banking giant HSBC Holdings, whose brand is well-known in China.
The story attracted so much attention that Chinese journalists familiar with
U.S. banking regulations checked into the legitimacy of Lin's claims. They
found no Atlantic Bank in Delaware and that Lin's New HSBC was not licensed
to offer banking services in Delaware.
When his nonexistent bank was exposed in March, Lin told reporters he made "
exaggerations" to raise his social status and to win future opportunities in
banking.
Lin is not known to have made any money off his bank claims, but after they
were shown to be false he apparently became a target in a police campaign to
crack down on economic crimes.
A statement on the Wenzhou police bureau's website said he is suspected of
having falsified invoices worth of hundreds of millions of yuan (tens of
millions of dollars) through several of his companies in a tax-evading
scheme.
knockoff Louis Vuitton bags, rice trader Lin Chunping took fakery to a whole
new level: He invented a U.S. bank and claimed he bought it.
The little-known businessman shot to fame in January when state media
reported that he had taken over Delaware-based Atlantic Bank. The
unprecedented acquisition brought him praise: His hometown gave him a
prestigious political appointment and state media called his business
experience "legendary."
The only thing that may have been legendary is Lin's audacity. Not only did
he not buy Atlantic Bank in Delaware for $60 million as he claimed, but
there is no Atlantic Bank in that state.
Chinese reporters could not locate an Atlantic Bank or a bank registration
by Lin in Delaware. He's under arrest for an unrelated fraud and has been
forced to give up his municipal-level appointment to the Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference, the government's top advisory body.
Lin, who was arrested in early June, could not be reached for comment. But
the 41-year-old's short, spectacular rise and fall shows how fakery has
evolved in China, morphing from the manufacture of copycat goods to entire
institutions and careers.
[Related: Chinese artist Ai Weiwei barred from court]
Last year, officials found five fake Apple stores in the southwestern city
of Kunming. The stores were modeled after the U.S. company's iconic stores
right down to the winding staircase and the staff in blue T-shirts.
In early June, local press in eastern Shandong province exposed a fake
university. Students who did not score high enough on the national college
entrance exam to make it into university received sham admission letters to
the Shandong Institute of Light Industry, a real school. The students paid
nearly 30,000 yuan ($4,800) over the course of four years to attend classes
at the institute.
Weeks before graduation, the students learned they would not get diplomas
because they were not officially enrolled at the school but in a private
training program that rents space from the institute, according to the
report in the state-run Jinan Times. The program organizer had disappeared,
the newspaper reported.
Among students, getting ahead by padding resumes or other subterfuge is
common.
Zinch China, the Chinese arm of U.S.-based educational networking site Zinch
.com, estimates that 90 percent of recommendation letters to U.S. schools
are fake, that 70 percent of the essays are written by someone else and that
half the transcripts are fabricated. Zinch drew the numbers from interviews
with Chinese students, parents and agents.
Experts point to many reasons for the widespread of lack of scruples, from
the need to be hyper-competitive to succeed in an over-populated society to
an ancient sage who countenanced lying to achieve a higher purpose.
He Huaihong, a Peking University philosophy professor who teaches ethics,
takes aim at China's politics, specifically the disconnect between an
avowedly communist leadership and the capitalist economy it oversees.
"Jargon left from a century of political revolution is so disconnected with
reality that the society is filled with meaningless, empty talk," said He.
Lin told Chinese reporters that it took him two years to negotiate the
purchase of the U.S. bank, and that the bank had declared bankruptcy in 2008
because of the financial crisis. To add more flair to the story, Lin told
reporters that the bank had been running for 85 years and was run by Jews,
who are stereotypically seen by many Chinese as having superior business
skills.
[Related: A Look at Economic Developments Around the Globe]
Lin's story was particularly captivating because overseas acquisitions are a
point of pride in China, showcasing its rising economic power. Lin's
supposed purchase of an American bank signaled both Chinese triumph and U.S.
decline.
His claims also cheered his hometown, the eastern city of Wenzhou, which was
reeling from a government-imposed credit crunch that had ruined some highly
leveraged entrepreneurs, some of whom fled the city and their debts. A few
committed suicide.
"People were shocked that an obscure businessman bought a foreign bank and
it was a U.S. bank nonetheless. He wasn't even a banker to begin with," said
Zhu Xiaochuan, a researcher on China's financial law at CEIBS Lujiazui
Institute of International Finance in Shanghai. "The news must be credible
because it was in mainstream media. The public were amazed how wealthy
Wenzhou businessmen were."
A profile on the website of the ruling Communist Party's newspaper People's
Daily depicts Lin as sharp and hardworking, selling buttons as a teenager,
then purchasing a copper and gold mine in Ghana and investing in the rice
business in China. The profile is still available online.
Lin said he renamed the bank USA New HSBC Federation Consortium Inc. and
that the institution had already attracted $40 million in deposits with the
prospect of turning an annual profit of $5 million to $6 million. The new
name had an air of respectability, borrowing from the London-based global
banking giant HSBC Holdings, whose brand is well-known in China.
The story attracted so much attention that Chinese journalists familiar with
U.S. banking regulations checked into the legitimacy of Lin's claims. They
found no Atlantic Bank in Delaware and that Lin's New HSBC was not licensed
to offer banking services in Delaware.
When his nonexistent bank was exposed in March, Lin told reporters he made "
exaggerations" to raise his social status and to win future opportunities in
banking.
Lin is not known to have made any money off his bank claims, but after they
were shown to be false he apparently became a target in a police campaign to
crack down on economic crimes.
A statement on the Wenzhou police bureau's website said he is suspected of
having falsified invoices worth of hundreds of millions of yuan (tens of
millions of dollars) through several of his companies in a tax-evading
scheme.
