Vanke, Yuexiu, Country Garden Disavow Property Fee Discount Services as Police Identify Money Laundering

Online platforms such as Xianyu, Xiaohongshu and Taobao have recently been offering discounted property management fee payment services, with discounts of up to 26 percent. Some homeowners have taken advantage of the offers, only to find themselves exposed to money laundering and fraud risks. A homeowner in Changsha purchased a service offering a 25 percent discount on property fees. After the payment was made, police informed the homeowner that the transaction was linked to fraud and the funds had to be recovered. It took a month to retrieve the money. Several property management companies, including Vanke, Yuexiu and Country Garden, have stated that they never authorized any individual or platform to offer discounted property fee payment services. Police in Ganyu district, Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, said the scheme essentially involves criminals using property fee payment scenarios to launder proceeds from telecom fraud and online gambling. Homeowners may appear to save money, but in reality they become tools for money laundering, and are likely to face fund freezes and secondary billing from the property management.