Recently, in the Chinese American community, there has been a humorous and controversial incident circulating.
（image source：US-China Press)
On the evening of April 27th, over 120 Chinese Americans rushed to a banquet in Midtown Manhattan with invitations in hand.
Most of these Chinese Americans had a similar goal, and some even traveled from far away just to gather here.
All for the sake of meeting the legendary figure – Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
It turned out that a Fujianese man named Jiang, who claimed to be a lawyer, had set up a media company similar to Wall Street.
According to the invitation they received, Musk was supposed to attend the banquet and participate in an awards ceremony.
（image source：US-China Press)
Although the wording of “Musk will attend the hotel event” was not 100% clear, but rather somewhat vague with “confirmed that Musk will attend”, these words undoubtedly conveyed the message that “Musk will appear in person”.
Thus, over 120 Chinese people flocked to the scene…
Although the formal event time for the banquet was marked from 7:00-10:00 pm, many people had already gathered in the lobby of James Hotel at 22 East 29th Street before 7:00 pm, waiting for the banquet to begin.
At 9:37 pm that night, after the last dessert was finished, a person who looked like Musk entered the banquet hall, surrounded by several bodyguards.
（image source：US-China Press)
Then the unveiling and award ceremony began in a hurry, and afterwards, he left like a whirlwind.
During this time, the crowd cheered and rushed to take photos with him.
Until the copycat Musk left, many people still didn’t realize that the person was not Musk himself, and only a few people questioned it on the spot.
For example, Ms. Wang who was present said
“This person couldn’t be Musk. Although I haven’t seen Musk in person, I’ve watched too many videos of him, and this person couldn’t be Musk no matter what.”
After the fact, people at the scene began to verify with each other.
It was said that some people had come to the United States more than a month in advance in order to meet Musk.
But the result was a “blunder” event, and their feelings can be imagined.
Not only did they fail to achieve their meeting goals, but their expectations were shattered, and their expenses for these days were wasted…
After confirming that the person they saw that night was not the real Musk, more and more Chinese people who claimed to have participated in the event began to express their anger.
Was this whole thing just a blunder or a suspected fraud?
The first voice
“Attending the banquet for $10,000” and the fake Musk’s money-grabbing is a scam
The day after the banquet, someone spoke out on the internet, accusing the organizer of cheating Chinese people out of money, and posted a receipt for a participant who paid $10,000.
The payee is Michael Diamond Consulting Inc. at Room 605, 3901 Main St., Flushing.
The receipt also notes that “If Guest Speaker Elon Musk Cannot attend$9500will be refund.
（image source：US-China Press)
There are also netizens who have made calculations –
“It is said that 100 people participated, with 80 regular tickets priced at $5,000 per person, which is $400,000 in total. There were also 20 VIP tickets priced at $10,000 per person, which is $200,000 in total. A fake Musk banquet attracted $600,000, and after deducting some costs, it is estimated that they cheated more than $500,000.”
The organizer of the event was also pushed into the spotlight.
Jiang Jinxin, the representative of the organizer and president of the Flushing Chinese-American Business Association, held a press conference in Flushing on the 29th, attempting to clarify the whole event.
（image source：US-China Press)
Regarding this receipt, Jiang Jinxin denied it directly during the press conference on the 29th, indicating that someone had made a fake receipt because the phone number (718-***-3500) on it was not his company’s phone number.
A journalist found that the number currently belongs to a Korean-American law firm in Flushing through an online search.
There are also multiple English grammar errors on the receipt, such as “will be refund” (should be “refunded”), which is similar in style to the many grammar errors on the invitation.
It is currently impossible to verify whether the receipt was forged or not. The person who presented the receipt from the community is now unwilling to come forward to clarify.
The Second Voice
Organizer: A successful branding plan
Jiang Jinxin himself had posted a WeChat moment after the event, praising the effectiveness of the event.
In his words, this was a branding plan that “made the American media take notice.”
（image source：US-China Press)
And at the press conference after the event sparked controversy, three email conversations with Tesla executives were provided:
The emails showed that at 1 pm on the 27th, a Tesla advisor named Brian Ranasia explicitly stated that Musk and his executives would attend the New York banquet.
An email on the 28th at noon from another Tesla advisor named Drew Baglino, stated that due to a lack of manpower and Musk still being in Washington D.C., he was sorry he could not attend the event.
At 4:18 pm on the 28th, another Tesla advisor named Aaron Graham continued to apologize, expressing that due to a lack of manpower, he did not have time to talk to Mike and could not attend the event.
（image source：US-China Press)
Among the three Tesla executives shown in the emails, only Drew Baglino’s name can be found on the public network, indicating that he is a technical executive at Tesla.
However, these screenshots of the emails were also pointed out to have a critical “technical issue” –
The email address has an “&” symbol before tesla.com, instead of an “@” symbol, which is almost impossible to explain technically.
In addition, at the press conference, Jiang Jinxin further stated that he had met with one of the executives at the “New York Tesla headquarters” and had a conversation with them, so he trusted them and believed that Musk would attend.
The third voice
Not deliberately deceiving, “no one paid”
As the president of the Wall Street Journal and Jiang Jinxin’s business partner, Mike explained that the fake Musk at the event was his friend and was already planned as part of the entertainment program for the evening.
He did not inform Jiang Jinxin in advance to give his business partner and all participants a surprise.
He believed that the reason why the event turned from “entertainment” to “deception” was due to poor communication and cultural differences between the East and the West.
（Elon Musk was featured as the cover story of the first issue of the fake magazine）
Mike said at the press conference, “Western culture thinks it’s no big deal, but who knows that Eastern culture reacts so strongly.”
He also stated that he only found out that Musk would not attend on the evening of the event, and that the “entertainment” was already planned.
In other words, it was not deliberately deceiving.
As for the receipt circulating online and the so-called “ticket money,” both Jiang Jinxin and Mike said they had no knowledge of them.
In addition, Jiang Jinxin emphasized that the receipt circulating online is fake, the phone number is fake, and he said he will pursue the legal responsibility of the publisher and warned people in China to “be smarter and not easily fooled.”
Jiang Jinxin said that the purpose of hosting this party was “to make everyone happy, to bring people from Flushing to Manhattan, to blend in with the mainstream of Manhattan, and everyone who came was a good friend and no one paid any money.”
He also said that he will continue to invite, and believes that Musk will definitely come to the Chinese community.
On the other hand, those who participated in the press conference that day all said that they did not pay to attend the dinner, and they all praised Jiang Jinxin for his many years of service to the community, spending money and effort, and being “the pride of the Fuzhou people and the entire Chinese community.”
It is difficult to comment on the matter without evidence. Perhaps only more of the invited guests coming forward to speak out can reveal the truth.
*The above content is compiled from reports by QiaoBao and several online media outlets.
