Zhang Ziyi refutes allegation of charity fraud

The actress blames lack of experience in charity for earthquake donation scandal.

Beijing: Chinese Hollywood actress, Zhang Ziyi, who has been accused of an earthquake donation scandal, has said mistakes may have been made due to her lack of experience in charity but refuted the charge that she committed a fraud.

Zhang, a successful film actress in China who later became an international celebrity after paring with Jackie Chan in `Rush Hour 2` followed by hit films like `Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon`, has denied the allegations in a candid interview with a daily. The 31-year-old star`s problems started shortly after she announced a donation of one million yuan (USD 147,000) to the China Red cross for the relief of the earthquake that struck Sichuan on May 12, 2008 in which over 80,000 people were killed and millions dislocated. It turned out that instead of one million yuan, only 840,000 yuan (nearly USD 123,530) was sent by her to the Red Cross and the USD one million fund she promised to mobilize has not materialised. Following allegations of fraud her posters were defaced with paint in her hometown, Beijing. Battling tears Zhang, daughter of an accountant and kindergarten teacher told the newspaper that she was in US when she announced the donation and she asked her representative in China to transfer the money. But due to what she claimed to be a "communication glitch", only 840,000 yuan was sent. She said she took "primary responsibility" for it and had already made up for the shortfall. The other contentious figure was USD 1 million, which she said she had "hoped" to raise, but had never claimed to have "already" raised. The actual amount pledged for the Zhang Ziyi Foundation is slightly less than USD 500,000, most of which has not been paid. The event in the eye of the storm was a fund-raising drive on May 21, 2008, at the Cannes Film Festival. During the one-hour "hastily arranged" initiative, only USD 1,392 in cash was collected. Since then, she said she had been making efforts to pressure the donors to honour their pledges, but her efforts have not been very successful. So far, only USD 15,050 has been collected. Zhang said she would personally make up for the shortfall but would not reveal the people`s names against their will. PTI