Red Cross health project ‘a scam to sell insurance’
Carers at community service stations were working undercover for China Life, TV investigation reveals
Priscilla Jiao 08 August 2011
The main mission of a charity project run by the scandal-plagued Red Cross Society of China was to sell insurance, state media reported.
Most volunteers at Red Cross community service stations - called “Bo Ai”, or “Big Love” - in Beijing were salesmen from China Life, the leading insurance company, according to News Probe, a show on Central China Television.
It said China Life made a deal in 2008 with Red Cross Commerce, the business arm of the society, that would give the insurance giant access to local communities that were otherwise hard to crack. The 12 service stations offered free medical services.
“It’s very difficult to enter local communities as most residents don’t want to be disturbed [by insurance agents],” Lai Jingsi, a China Life manager, was quoted as saying. “But if our salesmen worked for the service station, it’d be easy to win trust from residents and then sell insurance.”
Ye Ruling, a doctor volunteer, said the salesmen were not qualified to conduct most checks.
China Life paid 1.2 million yuan (HK$1.45 million) to Red Cross Commerce, through a consultancy to rent service vans. “We paid 1.2 million yuan because we planned to enter 100 communities in a year,” Lai said.
China Life withdrew from the project due to slow expansion.
The Red Cross Society and China Life could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The society has been hit by several spending scandals recently, including a self-described manager who posted pictures of her luxury cars and designer handbags on a microblog.
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Red Cross health project ‘a scam to sell insurance’
Carers at community service stations were working undercover for China Life, TV investigation reveals
Priscilla Jiao
08 August 2011
The main mission of a charity project run by the scandal-plagued Red Cross Society of China was to sell insurance, state media reported.
Most volunteers at Red Cross community service stations - called “Bo Ai”, or “Big Love” - in Beijing were salesmen from China Life, the leading insurance company, according to News Probe, a show on Central China Television.
It said China Life made a deal in 2008 with Red Cross Commerce, the business arm of the society, that would give the insurance giant access to local communities that were otherwise hard to crack. The 12 service stations offered free medical services.
“It’s very difficult to enter local communities as most residents don’t want to be disturbed [by insurance agents],” Lai Jingsi, a China Life manager, was quoted as saying. “But if our salesmen worked for the service station, it’d be easy to win trust from residents and then sell insurance.”
Ye Ruling, a doctor volunteer, said the salesmen were not qualified to conduct most checks.
China Life paid 1.2 million yuan (HK$1.45 million) to Red Cross Commerce, through a consultancy to rent service vans. “We paid 1.2 million yuan because we planned to enter 100 communities in a year,” Lai said.
China Life withdrew from the project due to slow expansion.
The Red Cross Society and China Life could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The society has been hit by several spending scandals recently, including a self-described manager who posted pictures of her luxury cars and designer handbags on a microblog.
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