Xiongji Boss Flees – Update: Cousin Surrenders, Urges Xie Yingxiong to Turn Himself In

Xie Wei walked into the Comprehensive Governance, Petition, and Stability Maintenance Center of the ancient town to surrender to the public security authorities. As for the whereabouts of his older paternal cousin Xie Yingxiong, Xie Wei said he cannot currently reach him by phone, but will try his best to contact him through family members and persuade Xie Yingxiong to surrender.

　　On July 2, the boss of Xiongji Lighting Factory in the ancient town fled, owing employees nearly one million yuan in wages and over 25 million yuan in goods payments. Outside sources say the operators of Xiongji Lighting are paternal cousins Xie Yingxiong and Xie Wei. The police subsequently launched a manhunt for both. Yesterday, Xie Wei walked into the Comprehensive Governance, Petition, and Stability Maintenance Center of the ancient town to surrender himself to the public security authorities, and stated his willingness to assist the police in finding his older paternal cousin Xie Yingxiong and persuading him to surrender.

　　Surprisingly, the check drawn in June had an issuance date of August

Xiongji Lighting Factory is located at No. 13 Yongyu, Cao Yi Industrial Zone, Guzhen Town. With a registered capital of 5 million yuan, the legal representative of the company is Xie Yingxiong. It is said that the specific persons in charge of operations are Xie Yingxiong and his younger brother Xie Wei.

The Xie brothers are from Heyuan. The company is a production-and-processing-oriented enterprise mainly engaged in lighting fixtures and illumination, with LED lamps as its primary product. On July 2, Xie Yingxiong suddenly "vanished into thin air," and dozens of suppliers of Xiongji Lighting Factory came knocking, claiming that Xie Yingxiong defrauded them of over ten million yuan through bounced checks. It is understood that all these bounced checks came from the Heyuan Xinshi Sub-branch of China Construction Bank, and the issue dates of some checks were even months in the future. For example, a check dated August 28 of this year was issued by Xie Yingxiong in early June to pay for goods delivered in April and May. In addition, Xie Yingxiong also owed wages to more than 300 employees of the factory, totaling nearly one million yuan.

Regarding Xie Yingxiong's absconding, some employees said there had been signs all along: on July 2, all the data on Xie Yingxiong's computer was deleted; in the week before, he had been moving goods out truckload by truckload. It is said that on July 1, Xie Yingxiong even arranged for all employees to take half a day off. Regarding the outside claim that Xiongji Lighting was jointly run by the two brothers Xie Yingxiong and Xie Wei, Xie Wei stated yesterday that he only learned of the factory's financial problems when numerous suppliers came knocking.

"Writing checks as instructed by the boss"

Xie Wei said he only left after seeing things going south on July 2. He changed his SIM card, cut off contact with the outside world, and went to Guangzhou. The police subsequently launched a manhunt for the two. Four or five days after the incident, Wang Ping, a member of the Party Committee of Guzhen Town, appealed on the town's TV station for the Xie brothers to return and turn themselves in as soon as possible in order to receive lenient treatment. It is revealed that Xie Wei got the idea of turning himself in after seeing this news.

　　Later, Xie Wei made contact with a member of the security committee of Caoyi Village to consult him on legal issues concerning turning himself in. After repeated persuasion, Xie Wei finally made up his mind to surrender yesterday afternoon.

　　According to Xie Wei's preliminary confession, he had been serving as deputy general manager at the factory, issuing cheques as instructed by the boss (Xie Yingxiong). Xie Wei stated that he held no shares in Xiongji Company, and only received a monthly salary of just over 10,000 yuan, living in the factory dormitory. Regarding the factory's capital operations and whether there were outstanding debts, Xie Wei said he was not aware. He also stated that he had resigned in May of this year and had sent text messages to inform some suppliers. As for why Xiongji had fallen into its current predicament, Xie Wei said: "There may have been problems with the sales strategy."

　　As for the whereabouts of his cousin Xie Yingxiong, Xie Wei said he could not be reached by phone, but he would try his best through family members to persuade Xie Yingxiong to turn himself in.

　　Industry view: Issuing post-dated cheques is an unspoken industry rule

　　After Xie Yingxiong absconded, all the cheques he had issued became bounced cheques, while paying with post-dated cheques appears to have become an unspoken industry rule. Supplier Mr. He showed the cheques in his possession, including one issued by Xie Yingxiong in June of this year to pay for the April-May goods, with a date of issue of August 28 of this year. He also had another one issued on June 20: "After I transferred it to my supplier, he found that the payment could not be withdrawn because of insufficient funds."

　　Some suppliers gathered at the Xinshi Sub-branch of the Heyuan City Branch of China Construction Bank on July 4, surrounding the bank staff and demanding access to Xie Yingxiong's bank statements. They also hung a banner in front of the bank reading "Zhongshan Guzhen Xiongji Lighting Factory Fraud." After coordination by local police, the suppliers dispersed.

　　According to suppliers, the practice of issuing checks several months in advance has become an unwritten rule in the Guzhen lighting industry. Suppliers believe this phenomenon reflects a shortage of working capital in Guzhen enterprises, and they hope the government will intensify its efforts to address this issue.

　　To appease the suppliers, the government said it would actively pursue the arrest of Xie Yingxiong and handle the follow-up matters of the case in accordance with the law.

　　Department Response: Bad Checks Mostly Originate from Heyuan

　　Wang Ping, member of the Party Committee of Guzhen Town, said that after the incident, the government actively coordinated and handled the matter. Xiongji Company owes employees over 970,000 yuan in wages, which has now been fully advanced by the town government. In addition, the town government helped more than 300 workers in the factory find new jobs.

After the incident, suppliers who were owed payment by Xiongji once formed a group and traveled to Heyuan, the hometown of Xie Yingxiong, to look for Xie Yingxiong's house. However, they found that Xie Yingxiong's house had already been mortgaged. Yesterday morning, some suppliers came to the Guzhen Town Comprehensive Governance and Petition Stability Maintenance Center. According to calculations, Xiongji Company owes a total of more than 25 million yuan in unpaid payments, of which 17 million yuan is in issued checks, and more than 15 million yuan are checks from the Heyuan branch of China Construction Bank. At the coordination meeting, the suppliers collectively raised two issues with the town government, both related to checks: one is about the supervision of post-dated checks, and the other is a request to step up the crackdown on bad checks.