China's richest actress, Fan Bingbing, has reportedly been barred from acting for three years after being hit by accusations of tax evasion, according to Hong Kong's Apple Daily.

It is rumoured that she is now being held in a secret location in Beijing where in addition to being monitored 24 hours a day, she is not allowed to conceal her hands or switch off the lights.

But what's happening and what's going on? Numerous reports have emerged with wide-ranging accounts of what the Chinese star has been up to ever since May.

We catch you up with this recap and timeline of events. But first:

Who is Fan Bingbing?

Fan has, for the past four years, been China's highest-paid actress.

The 36-year old raked in a whopping 300 million RMB (~S$60 million) last year alone.

She rose to prominence during the late 1990s with the popular Chinese period television show My Fair Princess, and also had a minor role in the 2014 Hollywood blockbuster X-Men: Days of Future Past as the mutant Blink.

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What's the central scandal she's embroiled in?

In May this year, a former TV host with the state-owned China Central Television accused Fan of tax evasion by signing secret contracts with a Chinese entertainment company.

The host, 55-year-old Cui Yongyuan, leaked two images of "yin-yang contracts" allegedly belonging to Fan for a new movie titled "Cell Phone 2" — one for 10 million RMB (~S$2 million) and the other for 50 million RMB (~S$10 million), which, he claims, was kept secret.

All in all, he accused Fan of failing to pay more than 23 million RMB (~S$4.6 million) of taxes, according to Yicai Global. 

The leaked contracts quickly sparked an uproar on Weibo, China's most popular microblogging platform.

However, according to a Shanghaiist report, Cui later retracted his claim and apologised to Fan on June 3, saying in an interview that she had nothing to do with the two contracts.

And what is a yin-yang contract?

Apparently, it's a common industry practice for actors in China to collude with film studios to create multiple contracts for projects.

A so-called "ying-yang contract" (阴阳合同) arrangement allows the actor or actress to submit the lower-value contract to the government, hence being able to avoid paying higher taxes, while the higher-value contract states the real amount to be paid to the actor.

While they are illegal, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) says that in China, they are used in all kinds of industries ranging from property to football.

SCMP also says that while local authorities have tried over the years to root out the practice, the efforts have been obstructed by "inadequate accounting systems and soft penalties".

The when & how

Here's a timeline of Fan's tax evasion allegations and sudden disappearance from the public eye.

May 29

Cui first made his open accusation against Fan in a blog post.

The details: a set of "yin-yang contracts", with the Shanghaiist elaborating on clauses that include providing Fan with two luxury cars, a month's worth of makeup artist services (despite allegedly only doing four days of work), daily food allowance of 1,500 yuan (~S$300) and the right to amend the film's script.

June 2

The date of Fan's last post on her Weibo account about a charity programme she took part in.

June 3

China's State Administration of Taxation announced it was opening up an investigation into 'yin-yang contracts'.

While it did not name Fan or any other celebrity, it ordered the Jiangsu provincial office to start investigating (Fan's studio is based in Jiangsu).

Cui reportedly apologised and retracted his accusations against Fan later that day, attributing the contracts to a "gang" and saying Fan was "in no way involved".

However, by this point Fan's studio had issued public denials of Cui's claims, declaring that she had never signed multiple contracts for a single job, and added that it was considering legal action against Cui for defamation and rights infringement.

Separately, according to 8 Days, a netizen claimed that he had seen Fan and her fiancé, Chinese actor Li Chen, at the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas a few days before.

An unnamed driver, who allegedly drove the pair to the airport in a Rolls-Royce, also reportedly claimed they had lost US$12 million (~S$16 million) from playing blackjack at a casino over three days.

However, an "insider" later disputed the claims, saying the couple used the company car while travelling around, and never went to the casino as Li apparently "didn't know how to gamble".

June 4

China's leading listed film studios' stock prices plunged over concerns the investigations could uncover a long-running practice in the industry and rattle operations.

Early June

A copy of what was allegedly a circular issued by Chinese authorities to state media instructed them against reporting on "yin-yang contracts" as well as "tax issues involving people in the film and television industry" was published on a Canada-based website on China called China Digital Times.

July 1

The date of Fan's last public appearance — visiting a children's hospital.

July 3

Fan's production company denied any wrongdoing and promised to cooperate with the police for investigations.

July 23

According to various Western media reports, Fan's last Weibo activity was seen on this day.

Her absence from social media is considered unusual as she is typically active on Weibo, posting at least once a day.

July 28

A renowned investigative journalist from The Economic Observer reported that Fan and her younger brother, Fan Chengcheng, had been barred from leaving the country.

The article, however, was later pulled from its website an hour later without explanation.

August 1

A new tax regulation issued by Chinese authorities came into effect, raising the taxable amount of celebrities' salaries from 6.7 per cent to 42 per cent.

This also required local governments to eliminate celebrity-friendly tax policies.

As a result, more than 70 movie projects were reportedly halted, while some production companies also went bust.

August 9

Fan's name was reportedly removed from a more recent version of Chinese World War 2 movie "Unbreakable Spirit"'s publicity poster.

Her scenes in the film remain intact, though, according to people who have seen the movie's sneak previews.

Top image via Fan Bingbing's Weibo