Recently, Mr. Shang from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, discovered that he unknowingly bore a massive debt of 3.2 million yuan from a company he had left three years ago. This news went viral on Weibo on February 8, sparking discussions among netizens.
According to Daxiang News on February 8, Mr. Shang sought help from the media to share his ordeal.
Mr. Shang revealed that on January 17 this year, he suddenly received a message that his WeChat balance was frozen by judicial order. Upon inquiry, he found out that he was sued by the Zhengzhou High-tech District Court.
To understand the situation, Mr. Shang, who was working in Liaoning Zhangwu at the time, traveled to Zhengzhou City with 1,000 yuan that his colleagues had pooled together on January 20.
Mr. Shang explained the reason for being sued. In 2020, he interned at Wuhan Kundayitong Trade Co., Ltd., and after three months, he was finally told he could be promoted. “However, the company told me that in order to be promoted, I had to act as a legal representative, shareholder, or executive of another company on behalf of the company. If the new employee disagreed, they would not be able to join the company,” Mr. Shang said. The HR department also assured him that all employees of the company had such arrangements and not to worry.
“At that time, I had been unemployed for a long time, so I really wanted this job,” Mr. Shang said. In order to secure this hard-won job opportunity, Mr. Shang agreed to the company’s request and became the legal entity of Shenzhen Yuancheng Trading Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen Yuancheng) with an 80% ownership stake.
In 2022, Mr. Shang resigned from Wuhan Kundayitong and requested to no longer serve as the legal entity of Shenzhen Yuancheng.
In April 2023, Mr. Shang found that he was still the legal entity of Shenzhen Yuancheng. “So I reported it on the tax APP and later in July, I found that the legal entity had been changed,” Mr. Shang thought the matter had ended there.
However, he only realized the complexity of the situation when he was sued and received a court summons.
The incident originated in 2022 when Zhengzhou KFC Co., Ltd. signed a lease contract worth 3.2 million yuan with Shenzhen Yuancheng, but the latter failed to deliver the store as agreed. In 2024, Zhengzhou KFC Co., Ltd. sued Shenzhen Yuancheng. However, after the lawsuit, it was found that there were no assets available for execution. Therefore, in December 2024, Zhengzhou KFC Co., Ltd. added a lawsuit against Shang and 9 other individuals as the defendants.
After understanding the whole story, Mr. Shang mentioned that his family’s financial situation was not good. He had debts to pay for marriage and housing, earning only seventy to eighty thousand yuan a year, and his wife had just given birth to a four-month-old baby. Mr. Shang said he was unable to face his family due to suddenly bearing a large amount of debt and was reluctant to go home for the New Year.
Following the incident, Mr. Shang contacted several former colleagues from Wuhan Kundayitong and discovered that many had faced similar situations, with many former colleagues already burdened with debts amounting to millions of yuan.
Mr. Shang stated, “I believe we should not bear these debts! I think this is a premeditated fraud by Wuhan Kundayitong against us employees who wanted to join the company.”
Daxiang News revealed that on February 11, the case will be brought to court, and before the hearing, Mr. Shang plans to return to Wuhan to unite with his former colleagues who have faced similar situations to report to the police together.
Analyzing the ordeal of Mr. Shang and his former colleagues, Lawyer Zhao Tianyou from Beijing Zhonglun Wende (Zhengzhou) Law Firm remarked that the case was already in the court trial stage. He stressed that Mr. Shang’s priority was to actively respond and gather relevant physical evidence, documents, and testimonies to prove that he was a “nominal shareholder” and that the company’s debt was unrelated to him. Otherwise, he might have to bear supplementary liabilities within the scope of the company’s capital contribution. Since Mr. Shang was an adult with full legal capacity, he could have refused the company’s request at the time but still chose to serve as the legal representative of a Shenzhen company. Thus, his demands for the Wuhan company to bear corresponding legal responsibilities might be difficult to support in court.
Lawyer Zhao Tianyou also cautioned about specific legal terms such as “legal representative” or “shareholder,” indicating corresponding rights, obligations, and legal responsibilities. He warned against registering as a company’s legal representative or shareholder based on promises of high wages or returns, as the subsequent legal risks could far outweigh the immediate benefits.
After this news was released, it sparked discussions among many netizens, with many condemning the company’s despicable actions.
A netizen, “HUANGMINGWU5b88ae5,” commented, “How shameless is this company, it’s outrageous! Clearly looking for scapegoats.”
“Guokao Pinglun Shuo” stated, “There are far too many bosses and companies like this, evading responsibility risks. Many people unknowingly or out of necessity become scapegoats or potential scapegoats.”
Many expressed concerns for Mr. Shang.
“denyong8595” said, “It is very likely that all these lawsuits will not be won, and the fraudsters can continue their blatant fraud?”
A Baidu user, “a6e775cc8,” also believes, “Everyone can see how innocent they are, but the court does not recognize it.”