Edit | Yuer Lake
Produced by | Chaoqi Network "Yu See Column"
Recently, many media such as Phoenix.com and Sina Finance reported the latest progress of the alleged embezzlement case of Xu Chong, the former CFO of Babytree.
According to media reports, the relevant information provided by Xu Chong recently showed that a large number of false testimonies, fabricated a large number of facts, and falsely accused Xu Chong of embezzling a huge amount of the company's funds.
According to February 2, 2024, the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau officially issued the "Jing Gong Chao Withdrawal Case Zi [2024] No. 50060" "Decision to Withdraw the Case", which has revoked the above-mentioned "embezzlement" case, restored Xu Chong's innocence, and restored the freedom of entry and exit.
In addition, Xu Chong recently posted on Weibo that on April 10, 2024, the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau issued the "Notice of Case Filing": "The case of Xu Chong being falsely accused and framed, our bureau believes that it meets the criteria for filing a case, and it has been filed for investigation." When receiving the notice, the police officer informed him that the circumstances of the person who carried out the false accusation had been included in the file and that the investigation had begun.
Source: Screenshot of the original baby CFO Xu Chong's Weibo @徐翀_Bill
It is worth noting that the previous case of CFO Xu Chong's alleged embezzlement has received a lot of media attention. At that time, the media tended to interpret that this was an infighting between Babytree and Fosun executives, and the truth was unknown to the outside world.
The current progress of the incident also shows that while the previous eight-month judicial entanglement has come to an end, Xu Chong will also turn passive into active. And the contradictions and entanglements between Fosun, Babytree and Xu Chong, as well as the truth behind them, are also expected to be restored.
The "origin and extinction" between Xu Chong and Fosun executives
The grievances and grievances between Xu Chong and Fosun began with Fosun Group's investment in Babytree in 2016. At that time, Fosun Group, together with Morninghill Capital and Good Future, jointly participated in the D round of financing of Babytree of 3 billion yuan.
It is also under the impetus of this round of financing that Babytree also successfully landed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2018, becoming the "first stock of Internet mothers and children", with a market value of more than 10 billion Hong Kong dollars. With the blessing of the secondary capital market, Babytree has also entered a period of rapid development, achieving a profit of 200 million yuan that year, a record high.
As one of the major shareholders of Babytree at that time, Xu Chong also ushered in the highlight moment of personal wealth, and Babytree Company was also filled with a joyful and thriving atmosphere.
Source: Internet, Baby Tree is listed
However, the good times were short-lived. Since 2019, when Fosun appointed the president and more than 10 senior management personnel to participate in the management of Babytree, everything has changed dramatically. And the first thing is that the performance of Babytree has plummeted. In just a few years, the cumulative loss of Babytree is close to 2 billion yuan, and the stock price has fallen all the way until it is suspended.
At the same time as Fosun's continuous deepening of Babytree's management, Fosun Group continued to increase its holdings of Babytree's shares until it became the largest shareholder of Babytree.
However, after experiencing open and secret battles with Fosun executives, Fosun Group has become a "moth" that hollows out the company in Xu Chong's mouth. According to media reports, the conflict between Xu Chong and Fosun executives can be traced back to April 11, 2023.
At that time, Babytree Group announced that it would remove Xu Chong from his positions as executive director, chief financial officer, authorized representative, member of the remuneration committee and strategy committee, and the reason for the dismissal was that the company was dissatisfied with Xu Chong's performance.
After Xu Chong was dismissed by Babytree, multiple versions of the "martial arts-style business war" story also circulated on the Internet. However, according to Xu Chong's interview with the media, the truth of the matter is that when he was announced to be recalled, he was also detained by the "man in black" for three days and three nights, during which Xu Chong even called the police four times in succession.
Incredibly, during this period, his office was even forced to cut off water and electricity, and even when the police officers and auxiliary police officers of the police station arrived, there were three rows of black-clothed people forming a "human wall" to prevent Xu Chong from going out. It wasn't until the police angrily reprimanded the "man in black" for wanting to attack the police that he reluctantly took him out of the office.
In addition, Xu Chong was not the only executive who was controlled at that time, there were also two female executives who were removed and controlled at the same time, during which the man in black also verbally insulted and threatened the female management, Xu Chong even used adjectives such as "obscene speech" and "unbearable" when describing the incident, and the scene at that time can also be imagined by the outside world.
Source: Xu Chong provided a timeline of events to the media
It is understood that Xu Chong has collected evidence and clues related to the detention of the "man in black", and submitted it to the public security organs during the acceptance and investigation of the above false accusation and framing case. Through a "solemn statement" released by Xu Chong in mid-December 2023, it was learned that Xu Chong claimed that what had happened in the past eight months was shocking and accused Fosun Group of retaliating against him for multiple purposes.
The other party's way of retaliation is to threaten "negotiations" with it in the name of "company reconciliation" from mid-May 2023. At the beginning of June, Fosun's senior executives were restricted from partially restricting their freedom on the grounds of embezzlement, which led to the filing of a case and the revocation of entry and exit documents.
It is alleged that Xu Chong was also unable to return to Hong Kong for eight months to handle business, causing huge personal economic losses of hundreds of millions of yuan, "causing serious consequences". It is precisely because of this that on March 11, 2024, the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau accepted the report of the false accusation and frame-up case, and decided to file the case on April 10, 2024 after preliminary investigation and evidence collection.
In the name of company reconciliation, both soft and hard "force people to comply"
It is understood that the above incident was initially identified by the police as an "economic dispute". Xu Chong also revealed to the media that in mid-May 2023, many senior executives of Fosun also took turns to threaten them in the name of "company reconciliation".
During the communication between Xu Chong and Fosun personnel, Fosun personnel also flaunted Fosun's "criminal justice" capabilities and forced the ousted management to sign a voluntary resignation agreement.
During the reconciliation negotiations, Fosun Group also sent negotiators with an increasingly tough attitude, claiming that its local public security organs in Chaoyang had "someone", and between words, similar threatening statements emerged one after another, such as: "I have dealt with you and your team in minutes", "There is no recovery", "You can feel the rest of your life with a long enough sentence", "We are not afraid of the underworld and the white way", and so on.
According to Xu Chong's own account, the most exaggerated time was in the lawyer's office, where a representative of Fosun directly asked Xu Chong, saying that as Xu Chong's "time window for arrest is approaching", Xu Chong is willing to "break the bank and avoid disasters".
The so-called broken wealth refers to the hundreds of millions of yuan of debt owed by Babytree Group to Xu Chong, which has been reported by the media many times before. This part of the debt, mentioned in the "solemn statement" mentioned above, since Xu Chong's ouster in 2018, the balance of funds owed to him by the company is 216 million. He has repeatedly submitted evidence and explanations to the police, and vowed to use all legal means to defend his rights to the end.
Source: Screenshot of the former baby CFO Xu Chong's Weibo @徐翀_Bill (it is said that the Weibo of the previous statement was deleted and republished)
It is understood that in order to cooperate with the investigation, confirm the arrears of Baobaoshu, and clear the charge of "duty infringement", Xu Chong spent 8 months running back and forth, providing various evidence.
According to Xu Chong's own account, during this period, he dealt with the "public opinion offensive" of Fosun executives and a large amount of perjury. For example, within Fosun and Babytree, various partners and customers, the capital market and the Internet industry, and even in the public security and law departments at all levels, "Xu is a particularly bad person... He used the company's money to spend money like dirt, and he was addicted to gambling like his life......" and "Xu Chong is a madman" to confuse public perception, exert pressure on the public security organs, and interfere with the normal judicial order.
But because of this time-consuming and labor-intensive judicial case, which required self-proof of innocence, Xu Chong not only suffered huge financial losses, but also experienced 8 months of torment, during which he could not move freely and could not handle the company's business. Xu Chong believes that this is a serious violation of his personal dignity and professional ethics.
Although the "embezzlement of duty" case was finally settled because of the "Decision to Withdraw the Case" officially issued by the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.
However, according to Xu Chong's recollection, the dark experiences of Fosun's executives who used both soft and hard against him and forced him to submit to the law still made him unforgettable, and all kinds of perjuries that challenged the bottom line of human nature and morality, fabricated a large number of facts, and even had lingering palpitations.
Therefore, Xu Chong believed that Fosun's executives had fabricated a large number of false testimonies, fabricated facts, falsely accused him of embezzling a huge amount of the company's funds, and used bad means to mislead the public security organs, and should be punished by law.
The case of Xu Chong's framing has been filed, and the truth behind the scenes is about to be revealed
It is understood that after the case of Xu Chong being falsely accused and framed was filed by the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau on April 10, 2024, Xu Chong also announced the progress of the case through Weibo.
Source: Screenshot of the original baby CFO Xu Chong's Weibo @徐翀_Bill
Xu Chong said through social media that after the false accusation and framing case was filed, he still firmly believed in judicial fairness and firmly believed that "power" could not suppress "evidence" and "truth". In this regard, Xu Chong also expressed the huge pressure he is about to face.
For example, it is unbelievable that the private gatherings organized by Xu Chong in the near future will be secretly obstructed in every way. There were even strangers who secretly recorded videos during the meeting as "residents" in the middle of the meeting. Some media interpreted that this may be Xu Chong's rights protection again, and someone is obstructing it.
According to Xu Chong's information revealed to media reporters, from April 19 to 23, he planned to hold a media conference at the Washington venue to try to reveal his heart to the media and restore the truth of the above two cases.
However, when booking the venue, he was forced to change the location many times, and in the end, the other party confirmed that it could be successfully booked on the grounds of fire inspection, temporary inspection by the Municipal Public Security Bureau and the fire department, maintenance in the store, a meeting of the boss, and all the activities of the air club, etc., but then changed his mind, and Xu Chong's venue reservation was repeatedly "forcibly cancelled" inexplicably.
Although the real reason for Xu Chong's repeated obstruction of organizational activities is unknown, it is unknown whether such strange incidents are related to Xu Chong's false accusations. But Xu Chong vaguely felt that it was so difficult to simply organize a meeting, and I was afraid that what would follow would be an endless "tug of war". And when the "framed case" initiated by him will be able to clear the clouds and see the blue sky, I am afraid that it will be a long way.
epilogue
In fact, compared with the obstruction of inviting the media to a meeting, the darkest moment Xu Chong experienced was that the people involved in the case made many "death threats" against Xu Chong and other executives, including the people involved in the case in front of Xu Chong, so threatening: "We have a job, they are one life", "These people have children, how will others treat and treat their offspring in the future", etc.
In fact, Xu Chong is not a person who is afraid of things. On the contrary, in Babytree Company, he is also conscientious and dares to speak out. For example, during his tenure at Babytree, Xu Chong bluntly pointed out in his speech to the board of directors that Babytree's introduction of the "barbarian" of "Fosun Group" as an investor is tantamount to "luring wolves into the room".
Not only since Fosun took control of the company, Babytree's performance has plummeted and its stock price has plummeted, but the internal management of the entire company has also been made into a miasma by the executives of Fosun. I never thought that Xu Chong's unpredictable prophet would become a prophecy. Babytree has been suspended since May 2, 2023, and there is still no hope of resumption of trading, and countless investors are also sighing for the fall of this once "first stock of Internet mothers and children".
In any case, Xu Chong has always firmly stated that the darkest hour has passed, and he firmly believes that evil cannot prevail over good, and even at the cost of his life, he will find the right way in the world, while defending his rights, it also proves that justice and truth still exist in this world.
As of press time, Babytree's official reply: Recently, we have noticed that Xu Chong, a departing employee, has continued to weave and disseminate false information through online media and organized offline media gatherings, which has a great impact on the company's reputation. Our company will reserve the right to investigate the legal responsibilities of the relevant parties and resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the company. The Board of Directors of Babytree has appointed an independent forensic firm in Hong Kong to collect forensic evidence, and the results of the first phase of the investigation can be found in Babytree Group (01761.HK). HK) announced on April 15 that it had an update on its independent investigation. Please be aware of right from wrong. The company's business operations are normal, for other specific situations, please pay attention to the company's latest investigation announcement.
The grievances are tortuous and confusing, and we will also pay attention to the follow-up progress of this matter.