In the wake of Typhoon Lekima’s destruction along the Chinese coast last weekend, a Beijing-based emergency relief charity has been accused of fraudulently collecting donations for a “post-disaster reconstruction project” in an affected area of Zhejiang province, domestic media outlet Beijing Youth Daily reported Friday. Three days earlier, a netizen had raised concerns over the project’s large budget, as well as discrepancies between the charity’s public statements and those of local disaster relief teams.

On Aug. 10, Peaceland Foundation launched a campaign on crowdfunding site Shuidichou to raise 2 million yuan for its typhoon relief project. A spokesman for the charity on Thursday denied any foul play, telling media that, due to the urgency of the initiative, the plan had been to collect donations first and coordinate with local relief teams later. The spokesman further said that allocation of the funds raised would be disclosed in a later report.

Shuidichou took to microblogging platform Weibo on Monday to address the situation, saying the campaign had been legally initiated by the China Social Welfare Foundation, a public fundraising foundation administered by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and that the reconstruction project had been approved by the relevant authorities.

The China Social Welfare Foundation later endorsed Shuidichou’s statement. However, the official body responsible for coordinating charity and relief efforts in Linhai — the city where the reconstruction project will supposedly take place — told Beijing Youth Daily on Thursday that it had yet to receive any donations, physical or monetary, from Peaceland. (Image: VCG)