Authorities to probe 'fraud' celebrity master

Wang Lin, a mysterious martial arts and Taoist philosophy master, who was accused of fraud, could face punishment for alleged illegal practice of medicine, the Beijing News reported Monday.

Photos showing Ma Yun (Jack Ma), the billionaire founder and ex-CEO of the Alibaba Group, visiting Wang, in Luxi county, Jiangxi province has sparked revulsion online.

People expressed shock that such a successful entrepreneur could fall prey to an alleged charlatan like Wang, reported Global Times.

A screenshot of Wang Lin from a media interview.

Other celebrities such as actor Jet Li and actress Zhao Wei were also guests of Wang according to photos he has shown. Even top officials including Liu Zhijun, the dismissed minister of railway visited Wang and former health minister Chen Minzhang was shown receiving treatment by Wang.

Wang claimed he has treated more than 50,000 patients. But the health bureau of Luxi county said Wang was not qualified in medicine and has no license.

Wang is among the richest people in Luxi county and one of his villas covers more than 6,600 square meters with a man-made lake.

Many of Wang's patients were rich people and he charged extremely high for services. Zou Yong, one of Wang's former apprentices recalled, once the wife of a real estate company's boss came to visit Wang over an illness. The man paid Wang more than 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) though no improvement has been felt after two years' treatment.

Wang boasts the legend of his treatment in his book published in Hong Kong. One example is once he cured a master with liver cancer in Qianyan Temple in Shenyang, Liaoning province, but reporters claim they found there was no such temple in Shenyang and the master allegedly did not exist.

There are some other similar cases. Wang reportedly cured a mail officer named Chen Zhaocai in Nanzuo town, Xingguo county, Jiangxi province according to the book. But it appears there is no Nanzuo town in the county.

Wang's telephone is out of reach and his staff said he did not show up anymore.