Investigations by the Ministry of Civil Affairs’ Civil Society Organizations Management Department (民政部民间组织管理局 )into the “Beijing Angelmom Charity Fund” of the Beijing children aid foundation, has found that while Angelmom’s use of two personal bank accounts to receive donations violated regulations, the violation seems not to have been intentional and there has been no evidence of funds embezzlement. The funds have since been transferred to the foundation’s bank account.
Angelmom’s practice came to light after an online weibo spat between the foundation’s manager, talkshow host Qiu Qiming, and female actor and financial donor, Yuan Li, who casted doubts on the foundation’s financial management practices. The incident drew widespread attention from netizens, and further urging over weibo from prominent industry observers prompted an investigation into the foundation’s finances.
This is not the first time a charity’s financial management practices have been called into question. Tsinghua University’s director of the Center for Innovation and Social Responsibility, Professor Deng Guosheng, sees the increased online scrutiny as a welcome impetus for NGOs to be more transparent in their operations, but urges caution on the netizens’ part when making potentially reputation-damaging accusations online.
The article further lists three other foundations which had also come under suspicion previously.
