Multiple individuals have recently reported that a former shareholder, Mr. Zhou, of the CHOW TAI FOOK Dahua Lefang store in Shanghai allegedly borrowed over ten million yuan from employees and customers under various pretenses, such as business development and store investment, using shareholder agreements and internal chat records, before subsequently disappearing.
Store Public Account Received Over a Million, Then "Shareholder" Vanished
In 2023, a Mr. Ling (pseudonym) met Mr. Zhou through gold business dealings. Mr. Zhou introduced himself as the owner and shareholder of the CHOW TAI FOOK Dahua Lefang store, and they became acquainted. According to Mr. Ling's recollection, as gold prices rose, Mr. Zhou proposed opening a new store and borrowed money from Mr. Ling, citing reasons like needing to pay more deposit to CHOW TAI FOOK. He promised Mr. Ling could purchase gold at a discount from the store.
Mr. Ling stated, "At that time, he used various reasons for us to lend him money. Initially, it wasn't even framed as a loan; it was described as money stored at the store, which later was uniformly called a loan." Subsequently, Mr. Ling and his wife transferred several million yuan. The final unpaid amount by Mr. Zhou was 1.2 million yuan.
Mr. Ling told reporters that for caution, he requested the funds be transferred to the store's public account, not Mr. Zhou's personal account. After signing an IOU, he paid via a QR code inside the CHOW TAI FOOK store, with the payee shown as "CHOW TAI FOOK Dahua Lefang Store."
"He showed me a series of proof materials, including a business license and a hidden share agreement. The agreement indicated he had a share agreement with the store's actual legal representative, Mr. Zhang, for ten years," Mr. Ling said. He visited this CHOW TAI FOOK store multiple times, where employees also referred to Mr. Zhou as "Boss Zhou," leading Mr. Ling to firmly believe in his identity.
In May 2026, Mr. Ling discovered the CHOW TAI FOOK Dahua Lefang store had closed. The property management informed him the store's contract had expired in March and was not renewed. At the end of May, Mr. Ling contacted Mr. Zhou to arrange installment repayment, but Mr. Zhou soon became unreachable, prompting Mr. Ling to report to the police.
Reporters noted that besides Mr. Ling, there were multiple other victims, including employees of the store and other customers. Among them, a store employee was allegedly loaned 680,000 yuan by Mr. Zhou for developing the store's old gold recycling business. According to Mr. Ling's preliminary estimate, there may be over ten victims, with amounts exceeding ten million yuan.
Former Shareholder Withdrew Equity but Retained Control; Legal Representative Allegedly Allowed Fundraising
Although Mr. Zhou claimed to be a shareholder of the CHOW TAI FOOK franchise store, his actual status was merely a "former shareholder." Media reports cited the store's operating entity's legal representative, Mr. Zhang, as stating Mr. Zhou was only a former shareholder who had withdrawn his shares as early as 2023 and subsequently deceived customers into investing using his shareholder title.
Mr. Zhang said, "They (the customers) couldn't find him (Mr. Zhou) and came to me. I couldn't find him either. This matter has greatly affected me."
However, in the view of former employees of the store, Mr. Zhang was not as unaware as he claimed. An employee revealed to reporters that Mr. Zhou had long been responsible for the store's old gold recycling business and daily operations, and his duties remained unchanged after withdrawing his shares. "The legal representative never informed us that Mr. Zhou changed from 'General Manager Zhou' to an 'ordinary employee,'" recalled a former employee, Ms. Li (pseudonym).
Ms. Li recalled that Mr. Zhang often brought different people to the store, saying they were investors, and she believed the owner, Mr. Zhang, was fully aware. "Every time Mr. Zhou brought people to view the store and discuss investment, Mr. Zhang was also present. Mr. Zhou would slowly talk to people, using certain tactics, like saying 'if you invest with me, I'll give you a certain percentage return,' thus drawing people in."
Mr. Ling believes Mr. Zhang provided Mr. Zhou with materials such as the CHOW TAI FOOK store's business license, the legal representative's ID card, the hidden share agreement, CHOW TAI FOOK backend inventory access permissions, and internal chat records, all of which were used by Mr. Zhou to gain others' trust.
Reporters attempted to call Mr. Zhang regarding this, but the phone was never answered. A victim informed reporters that Mr. Zhang currently still operates another CHOW TAI FOOK franchise store (Zhenguang Road Friendship Store) normally. Reporters called that store, and a clerk confirmed it has the same owner as the Dahua Lefang store.
CHOW TAI FOOK's Response: Communicating with Consumers and Cooperating with Relevant Authorities
Regarding this dispute, on June 11, CHOW TAI FOOK stated to reporters that it is aware of the matter, is communicating with consumers, and is cooperating with relevant authorities in their investigation.
CHOW TAI FOOK said, "We have always had clear standards, norms, and expectations for franchisee management. Any violations will be dealt with seriously."
Yan Bing, a senior partner at Beijing Time & Harmony Law Firm, believes that in this incident, the franchise store's responsible person had previously recognized Mr. Zhou's "partner" status, allowed Mr. Zhou to participate in enterprise operations as a member of management, and did not declare his "withdrawal of shares" to relevant parties after the fact, continuing to tacitly allow Mr. Zhou to participate in the franchise store's operations, even permitting Mr. Zhou to use the enterprise's public account. These circumstances are sufficient for relevant parties to believe Mr. Zhou could represent the enterprise, so the franchise store should bear the relevant legal consequences.
"If this case is ultimately classified as a criminal offense, and investigation finds that the franchise store's responsible person knowingly used their dominant position over the franchise store to assist Mr. Zhou in committing the crime while being aware of it, they would constitute an accomplice," Yan Bing said.
Yan Bing also pointed out that the rights and obligations relationship between the CHOW TAI FOOK headquarters and the franchise store is not currently known, but based on descriptions from all parties, the franchise store should be an independent legal entity responsible for its own profits and losses. "Based on the currently available information, no grounds have been found for the CHOW TAI FOOK headquarters to bear joint liability."
However, from Mr. Ling's perspective, he trusted and transferred large sums to the store's collection QR code because of his trust in the CHOW TAI FOOK brand endorsement. Regarding this, reporters called CHOW TAI FOOK customer service as consumers. The customer service stated that both directly operated and franchise stores of CHOW TAI FOOK are uniformly managed by the company, and there is no distinction in storefront decoration and signage.
The latest financial report released by CHOW TAI FOOK Jewelry Group on June 11 shows that in the 2026 fiscal year, 70.9% of CHOW TAI FOOK jewelry retail points in Mainland China were in the form of franchise stores, accounting for 66.6% of retail value.
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