It looks as though the legal troubles for Chinese superstar Fan BingBing may finally be coming to an end, as new reports suggest that she has been released from government detention.
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The actress, who portrayed Blink in X-Men: Days of Future Past, has been caught in the center of a massive tax evasion issue over the last several months. Fan disappeared from the public eye back in June, then stepped away from social media in July, after being accused of tax fraud by another celebrity in the country. The actor posted photos of contracts that alleged evasion on the part of Fan.
According to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (via Variety), Fan returned to Beijing on Thursday after a period of “residential detention.” The paper stated that Fan was being kept at a “holiday resort” near Wuxi, a location that has been used in the past to interrogate Communist Party Officials.
Earlier this week, it was announced by China’s tax authorities that Fan would have to bay hundreds of millions of yuan in back taxes and fines. Other reports hinted that Fan and her various companies could be fined for up to $129 million.
At this point, it is expected that, if Fan promptly pays her fines, she will avoid any criminal prosecution.
After being released, Fan returned to social media to make an apology.
“I feel ashamed and guilty for what I did, and here, I offer my sincere apology to everyone,” the actress wrote on Weibo. “I feel ashamed that I committed tax evasion in [upcoming film] ‘Unbreakable Spirit’ and other projects by taking advantage of ‘split contracts.’ Throughout these days of my cooperation with the taxation authorities’ investigation of my accounts as well as my company’s, I have realized that, as a public figure, I should’ve observed the law, setting a good example for society and the industry.”
