Recently，A "Notice of Debt Verification Results" from the liquidation team of Hebei Airlines Group Swan 188bet Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as: Swan 188bet)，Puzzled the heads of at least 17 Swan International Travel branches。They previously paid tourism quality guarantee deposits ranging from 30,000 to 350,000 yuan to Swan International Travel，Total amount 2.95 million yuan。Later, there was a conflict between the shareholders of Swan 188bet，Causing problems in the operation of multiple branches and the return of warranty funds，The creditor's rights relationship in the "Notice" they received recently is "general creditor's rights"，"This means that we will most likely not receive the full warranty，You may not even get the warranty money”。

April 16，Tian Jianhua, who was the general manager of Swan 188bet, told the reporter of Upstream News (WeChat account: shangyounews)，"A shareholder took away the official seal on January 28, 2016 and never got the company back"，Why do you still provide the branch with stamped documents when there is no official seal?，The expression is unclear。

The staff of the liquidation team said: "As for the issue of warranty funds，We have collected the objections and opinions of the 188bet leaders and submitted them to the court，Waiting for court decision。”

The "Notice of Claims Verification Result" from the Swan International 188bet Liquidation Team shows that the nature of the claims is ordinary claims，Cannot be executed first。Photo courtesy of interviewee

Non-refundable 188bet

Tong Dan, the person in charge of Tangshan Branch of Hebei Swan International Travel Agency told upstream news reporters，In January 2010, it signed a cooperation agreement with Swan International Travel，Joined Hebei Swan 188bet Tangshan Branch，And paid the quality guarantee deposit of 300,000 yuan in full，Obtained a tourism license through Shijiazhuang Tourism Approval。

According to regulations，If the branch has no violations of laws and regulations within 3 years，50% of the warranty deposit and interest should be returned。Tong Dan sought compensation from Swan 188bet many times in 2013，But no result。

May 2018，Tong Dan learned about the dissolution of Swan 188bet。Late March this year，He received the "Notice of Debt Verification Result" from the Swan International Travel Liquidation Team，The notice shows that the nature of the warranty deposit claim is "ordinary claim"。

There are more than a dozen cases similar to Tong Dan’s situation。Informed by an upstream news reporter，Swan 188bet Tangshan Branch、Baoding Branch、Hengshui Company、Xingtai Branch、Xianghe Branch、17 branches including Cangzhou Hejian Branch paid a total of 2.95 million yuan in warranty deposits。The earliest payment date is January 2010，The latest is July 2016，Amount ranging from 30,000 to 350,000。

Many 188bet heads told reporters，During the operation period, there was no use of warranty funds due to damage to tourists’ rights and interests，"According to the relevant agreement，We should refund our warranty deposit and interest，However, the creditor's rights relationship on the liquidation note is an ordinary creditor's rights relationship，Making it impossible for us to get back the full warranty money”。

Reporter noticed，The "188bet Agency Quality Guarantee Deposit Agreement" signed by Swan International 188bet and each branch shows that 188bet agencies are not allowed to use the quality guarantee deposit certificate as a pledge。The bank should indicate on the deposit certificate issued that “Special deposits shall not be pledged，Quality deposit deposited by the bank to the 188bet agency，Periodically by year、Management of automatic interest settlement and transfer methods upon maturity，The part withdrawn midway will be settled with current interest，All interest income belongs to the 188bet agency” words。

17 branches paid a total of 2.95 million yuan in warranty deposits to Swan International 188bet。Photo courtesy of interviewee

Shareholders took away their 188bet seals and certificates due to conflicts

End of 2015，After paying the franchise fee、After warranty deposit and other fees，Zhang Min, the person in charge of Chengde Branch of Swan International Travel, asked Swan International Travel to provide the necessary procedures for the account opening bank and stamp the official seal，“Swan 188bet has been unable to provide legal procedures，Explain that the official seal cannot be provided，Causing the Chengde branch to be unable to operate normally”。

Zhang Min is not the only one affected by official seal issues，Tong Dan said: "2016，I have approached Swan Headquarters many times to request cancellation of the business license，Refund the full deposit，But Swan International 188bet said it did not have an official seal，Rejected。”

Until the emergence of a court decision in 2018，It took 17 branch managers to discover that there was an internal problem at Swan 188bet。

Hebei Province Shijiazhuang Intermediate People’s Court (2017) Hebei 01 Minchu No. 120 Civil Judgment Display，January 8, 2015，The 188bet Company amendment changes the shareholders to Hebei Aviation Investment Group Co., Ltd. and Yu Honggang，The airline invested 3.9 million yuan，The shareholding ratio is 65%，Yu Honggang invested 2.1 million yuan，The shareholding ratio is 35%，Yu Honggang serves as the general manager of 188bet Company。Afterwards，The company has encountered various problems in its operation and management。

The judgment states: January 8, 2016，Swan 188bet holds board of directors meeting，Dismissal of Yu Honggang General Manager。Possess the original and duplicate of the company's business license and two official seals in Honggang。January 28 of the same year，Swan International Travel filed a lawsuit in court against Yu Honggang for privately holding the company’s official seal and certificate，Demand its return。

Due to the irreconcilable conflicts between shareholders，Unable to form a shareholder meeting resolution，Normal operations are no longer possible。Major shareholder Hebei Aviation Investment Group Co., Ltd. submitted a statement to the court，Indicated that Swan 188bet should be disbanded。

The court held that，Due to the loss of trust among shareholders of Swan 188bet，The shareholders’ meeting cannot be held for nearly two and a half consecutive years，Unable to form a shareholder meeting resolution，Serious difficulties in management of Jingjian，The company has been in a deadlock for a long time，Continuing to exist will cause significant losses to shareholders’ interests。final，The court ruled that Swan 188bet should be dissolved。

It can be seen from the judgment，Yu Honggang took away the original and duplicate business license and two official seals of Swan 188bet on January 28, 2016。But，Without official seal，The company has continued to recruit at least 3 franchise branches。

May 18, 2016，Yu Li and Zhang Xiaofeng, the heads of the Cangzhou branch of Swan 188bet, met Tian Jianhua, then general manager, at the headquarters of Swan 188bet，Negotiated Zhang Xiaofeng’s intention to join the Cangzhou branch，“When raising some specific questions about business risks and other aspects，Tian Jianhua verbally introduced the strong economic strength of the aviation group as the controlling party，And tell us，The existing office space was purchased by the company，Besides, we have a written cooperation agreement，The agreement also clarified their respective responsibilities, obligations and property division，Let us just open up our business。”

Subsequently，Yu Li and Zhang Xiaofeng 22 including the warranty deposit.The fee of 50,000 yuan is transferred to Swan 188bet，A few days later, the company sent Zhang Xiaofeng a series of appointment letters required for registration by express delivery、Written materials such as bank guarantee documents for the deposit，These materials are stamped with the official seal of Swan International Travel。During the final bank account registration process，The bank rejected Zhang Xiaofeng’s account opening application，The reason is that "the head office materials provided by the People's Bank of China cannot pass the review，There is an issue that is inconsistent with the documents reported by the headquarters。”

Afternoon of April 16，Tian Jianhua said in an interview with an upstream news reporter，He is from Hebei Aviation Investment Group，In 2016, he was temporarily responsible for handling matters related to Swan International Travel。“Swan 188bet has entered the liquidation stage，The official seal has never been returned since it was taken away from Honggang”。Why do you continue to recruit branches without an official seal，And how to explain the official seal of branches that joined after February 2016，He said he was unclear，Then hang up the phone。

In the company turnover column of "Hebei Airlines Group Swan 188bet Branches in Various Cities"，Involving Chengde Branch、Hengshui Water Cooperative, etc., total 126.50,000 yuan warranty。Photo courtesy of interviewee

The head of the 188bet questioned the misappropriation of the warranty fund

"List of Hebei Airlines Group Swan 188bet Branches in Various Cities" obtained by upstream journalists，The "Company Turnover" column of the form shows: Baoding Branch has a deposit deposit、Tangshan Branch、Relocation branch、Xianghe Branch、Laoting Branch、Hejian Branch、Beijing branch total 1.31 million yuan，Company turnover 126.50,000 yuan。

To this，Tian Jianhua said in an interview with an upstream news reporter，“Unclear，All materials have been handed over 188bet liquidation team，Please ask the liquidation team for details。”

A staff member 188bet liquidation team said: "Except creditors，Has no right to disclose relevant information to anyone。”

It’s worth noting，On September 18, 2017, there was a conflict between Hebei Aviation Investment Group Co., Ltd., the major shareholder of Swan 188bet, and another shareholder in Yu Honggang，Hebei Aviation Investment Group Co., Ltd. established 100% Hebei Qicaiqiao International Travel Agency Co., Ltd.，The company’s business scope has many overlaps with that of Swan International Travel，Such as domestic travel、Outbound travel、Inbound tourism business, etc.。

Many branch managers said in interviews with reporters: “The offices of Swan 188bet and Qicaiqiao are in the same place，We suspect that part of the warranty money paid by Swan 188bet to us was not deposited into the designated account，It was misappropriated instead。”

Upstream news reporter confirmed from relevant insiders，Swan 188bet and Qicaiqiao Travel Agency are indeed in the same location，And most employees of Qicaiqiao Travel Agency are from Swan 188bet。

Lawyer: The head office should return the warranty 188bet upon dissolution

April 17，Lawyer Xu Hao from Jingshi Law Firm said in an interview with a reporter from Upstream News，According to the "Tourism Law"、Relevant provisions of "Measures for the Management of Deposits and Withdrawals of Tourism Service Quality Guarantee"，The tourism service quality guarantee refers to，A certain amount of funds deposited by the 188bet agency in a designated bank or provided by a bank guarantee for the payment of compensation for tourism service quality and the advance payment of emergency assistance expenses when the personal safety of group tourists is in danger。

According to regulations，The tourism service quality deposit paid by the franchised head office to establish a branch，The head office should return it when disbanding。If the head office staff does not deposit all the 188bet agency quality guarantee funds into the designated bank account stipulated in the Tourism Law，Illegal misappropriation，To deceive some franchisees，Conducted acts such as forging false official seals and bank documents，Suspected of forging company seal。

There is a contractual relationship between the head office and franchisees in various places，After the head office enters the liquidation process，The contract between the two parties should be terminated，The head office shall return the tourism service quality guarantee deposit paid by the 188bet to the franchisee，But it’s just an ordinary claim，Cannot be executed first。Such as the deposit paid by the 188bet，The head office did not deposit it in a designated bank in accordance with the provisions of the Tourism Law，Misuse for other purposes，Only other properties of the head office can be executed。

However，Many branch leaders expressed their inner doubts: If the warranty deposit paid is classified as a general creditor's rights relationship，The head office went bankrupt due to poor management or the warranty deposit was not transferred to the designated account，The warranty deposit cannot be fully refunded，This will seriously damage the interests of the branch leader，“Hundreds of 188bet agencies across the country have opened branches，The amount of warranty deposit collected is quite large。”

*Source of this 188bet:Upstream 188bet, author: Li Hongpeng, original title:《The branch operator of Hebei Swan 188bet disbanded and said that nearly 3 million yuan of warranty deposit could not be returned》.