Fugitive Chinese social media influencer and husband await trial after returning from South Korea

Shenzhen police say the pair are accused of selling fake sunglasses online

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Yu, the 35-year-old influencer, and her husband, Yang, were arrested in July after returning to China. Photo: Handout

Published: 8:28pm, 16 Oct 2018Updated: 10:51am, 17 Oct 2018

A Chinese social media influencer with more than 600,000 followers and her husband have been arrested and are awaiting trial accused of selling fake goods online, Shenzhen police announced on Monday.

The 35-year-old woman, surnamed Yu, and her husband, 37, surnamed Yang, were arrested in July after they returned to China from overseas and turned themselves in, the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau’s Longgang branch said in a statement posted on microblogging site Weibo.

While it is not the first time a social media influencer has been accused of peddling fake goods, Yu is the first to be arrested after fleeing China.

Shenzhen police had been preparing to file an Interpol red notice – a type of international arrest warrant – for Yu and Yang, but they returned to China when the authorities threatened to cancel their passports, Shanghai-based news outlet Thepaper.cn reported on Monday.

The pair are believed to be in custody. A 50-year-old man accused of being their supplier was also arrested in August.

China has been looking to clear its reputation as a major source of knock-off goods. A new e-commerce law will come into force on January 1 that will hold online retail companies and merchants jointly accountable for the sale of fake products online. At present, it is the merchants who are liable when caught.

Police confiscated 50 pairs of sunglasses from the couple’s warehouse. Photo: Handout