In China the authorities launched a new offensive against Internet celebrities. This time the “queen of live online sales” Wei Ya (real name – Huang Wei, born in 1985) came under attack. The Hangzhou Tax Service ordered her to pay 1.34 billion yuan (16 billion rubles) in fines for tax evasion in 2019-2020 “including the amount of taxes, penalties and late fees.”
If the fine is not paid, the “queen” could face up to seven years in prison plus financial penalties. In addition, immediately after the Hangzhou authorities issued their verdict, Wei Ya’s account on the Chinese social network Weibo and her online store on Taobao Marketplace (owned by Alibaba Group), an e-commerce platform and the world’s eighth most visited site in 2021, were blocked.
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