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Danke Apartment Apartment Rental

CEO of Controversial Apartment Rental Company Danke listed as Judgement Debtor

Chen Du

posted on December 9, 2020 2:41 pm

Gao Jing, the CEO and legal person of the controversial apartment rental company Danke Apartment, is listed by a Shanghai court as judgement debtor, due to unpaid debt to another company.

Shanghai Minhang District's People's Court issued a high consumption restriction order to Beijing Ziwutong Capital Management, the parent company of Nasdaq-listed Danke, effectively restricting Gao's ability to pay for a more affluent lifestyle, including purchasing first-class plane and train tickets, staying at a starred hotel, purchasing and renovating real estate, etc.

Gao Jing, Danke Apartment's CEO
Gao Jing, Danke Apartment's CEO

It appears that Gao's judgement debtor status and high consumption restriction was not the direct result of his company's recent financial mishap that led to tenants being evicted without even the slightest compensation, but rather debt to other companies. 

Ziwutong, of which Gao is the legal person, actual controller, and largest shareholder with 57% share, is found to have more than 14 million RMB worth of unpaid debt to several companies. One of the creditors, a furniture company in Shanghai with roughly 5.2 million RMB outstanding payments, filed an execution order to the local court.

Danke, an apartment rental company that operates a similar business model as WeWork, serving as a middleman between tenants and actual property owners, has long been rumored to be on the verge of bankruptcy, despite it posting on Weibo that it isn't. Tenants across China are reporting that the company failed to pay for utilities resulting in their internet and electricity being shut down, and the quality of other services reduced. Furthermore, Danke has been found conspiring with property owners to evict the tenants in order to keep them satisfied and save cost. 

The company, which counts Ant Group as one of its backers, claims to have about 400,000 apartments in operation, and reported a massive 1.23 billion RMB net loss for the first quarter of this year.

This is not the first time Gao, the CEO, has been involved in legal proceedings. Back in mid June this year, Danke reported that Gao was involved in an investigation by relevant organs and could not continue to perform the duties as CEO and a member of the board. The company said at that time that the investigation was about Gao's investment actions prior to founding Danke and had nothing to do with the company.