Case Summary
In June 2021, an employee of the defendant company initiated contact with the client via WeChat under the pretext of adding the wrong contact. Over the following period, the employee frequently engaged the client in conversations on WeChat, claiming to be a senior executive of the defendant company and boasting about the company’s strong financial strength, thus gaining the client’s trust.
Starting from July 2021, the employee repeatedly told the client that the defendant company, as a producer, was developing a theatrical film, and made a series of false or misleading representations—including but not limited to the casting of multiple A-list celebrities and a projected 6–9 times return on investment. Based on these fraudulent statements, the client signed a film investment agreement with the defendant company against his true intention and remitted hundreds of thousands of yuan in investment funds.
However, the actual release date of the film was far later than promised. In addition, the final lead cast did not include the A-list celebrities the defendant had pledged, and the so-called “6–9 times return on investment” turned out to be completely groundless.
Case Handling Process
Upon accepting the case, Shengzhi’s legal team promptly launched evidence collection. By retrieving WeChat chat records, the investment agreement, bank transaction statements and other materials, the team preliminarily concluded that the defendant had committed fraud by fabricating facts and exaggerating investment returns.
From a practical operational perspective, the team filed a civil lawsuit on behalf of the client pursuant to Article 148 of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China (right of revocation in cases of fraud), requesting the court to hold the investment agreement void due to fraud and order the full refund of the investment principal plus interest.
After the lawsuit was filed, Shengzhi’s team discovered that the defendant company was proceeding with a simplified deregistration procedure to evade legal liability. The team immediately contacted the court and the local market supervision and administration authority, and successfully blocked the defendant’s deregistration process.
Faced with this situation, representatives of the defendant company took the initiative to contact Shengzhi’s legal team and promised to refund the full amount of the client’s investment. The two parties eventually reached a settlement, and the client successfully recovered all the funds.
Legal Tips
- Film and television investment fraud has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Shengzhi’s legal team advises investors to stay alert to the following risk points:
- Qualification verification: Verify the identity of co-producers through official platforms such as Maoyan Movies, and request to inspect the underlying cooperation agreements and authorization documents between the co-producer and the lead producer.
- Contract pitfalls: Beware of clauses involving inflated production costs and over-transferred investment shares, and refrain from signing agreements with misleading terms such as “principal-guaranteed repurchase”.
- Fund supervision: Confirm that investment funds are remitted to a formal corporate bank account, and track the actual use of funds (e.g., whether they are diverted to pay high commissions or misappropriated).
With in-depth research and extensive hands-on experience in film and television investment fraud cases, Shengzhi’s legal team has effectively safeguarded the client’s legitimate rights and interests. The firm will continue to monitor emerging types of economic disputes of this kind and provide targeted legal support for investors.
