SHANGHAI – One of China’s biggest and wealthiest film stars, actress FanBingbing, has disappeared from public view as authorities probe alleged taxevasion by entertainers, sparking growing fan speculation over her fate.

The 36-year-old actress, model, and producer has been a household name inChina for years and tasted Hollywood success with a role in the 2014blockbuster “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”

But Fan, usually active on social media, has gone dark online and hasreportedly not been seen in public for weeks.

“Will Fan Bingbing go to prison?” asked one of hundreds of thousands ofrecent postings about her on China’s popular Twitter-like Weibo platform,while others speculated she had been banned from movies or was under housearrest.

Fan’s troubles began in May when a former presenter for state-run ChinaCentral Television (CCTV), Cui Yongyuan, posted purported contracts onlinethat suggested she had received under-the-table payments.

The documents Cui posted suggested Fan was officially paid 10 million yuan($1.45 million) for a project while unofficially receiving an additional 50million yuan — all for four days of work.

So-called “yin and yang” dual contract arrangements — with one contractfor income declared to tax authorities while the other is kept secret –are reported to be used in China to evade taxes.

After the documents posted by Cui went viral, the national taxadministration announced it had instructed authorities in eastern Jiangsuprovince to investigate alleged use of such dual contracts in theentertainment industry.

Fan was not mentioned by name but she has businesses registered in Jiangsu.- APP/AFP