Chopper in Internet celeb's video not theirs: police

Police in northeast China's Liaoning Province have denied an official helicopter was used for a private video posted by an Internet celebrity with more than 3 million followers, who is accused of painting a false picture of herself as a fabulously wealthy socialite.

Recently, a short video account "Wang Chengcheng" sparked outrage on Chinese social media.

On her account, she was posing herself as a super rich businesswoman, apparently owning a lavish mansion, driving around in a Rolls-Royce, and traveling by helicopter.

In one video she posted, she boasted of spending a whopping 15,000 yuan (US$2,220) a day.

She did not get much attention outside her fan base until she posted a photo of herself with a man in police uniform she called her father.

Angry netizens accused her of stealing taxpayers' money and wrongly using a police chopper.

Shenyang police in Liaoning said that while they did sometimes use the helicopter shown in the video, it was a civilian one owned by a general aviation company.

A man surnamed Lu, general manager of the company, has been sacked for approving the photo shoot without official permission.

Shenyang police also said Wang's father was a retired low-ranking official. She started a business in 2017 and married a businessman in 2020.