Million-Subscriber YouTuber Couple Breaks Up, Goes to Court: Jia-Ning Acquitted, Mother Sentenced to 1 Year and 8 Months

The legal dispute between Andy (Wang Chongrui), creator of the million-subscriber YouTube channel 'Crowd CROWD,' and his ex-girlfriend Jia-Ning over channel ownership, company finances, and revenue has reached a first-instance verdict at the New Taipei District Court. Jia-Ning, who was charged with altering the channel password and violating computer use laws, was acquitted. Her mother, Zeng Shuhui, was sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in prison, with 1 year and 4 months eligible for a fine, and an additional NT$500,000 fine. Jia-Ning’s father, Zhang Guolong, was sentenced to 4 months in prison (eligible for fine substitution) and a NT$50,000 fine for violating the Personal Data Protection Act. Her sister, Zhang Jiayun, received a 2-month sentence (eligible for fine substitution), a NT$10,000 fine, a 2-year suspended sentence, and 60 hours of community service for aiding tax evasion. Qunhai Entertainment was also ordered to forfeit over NT$4.94 million.

Jia-Ning claimed she had a verbal agreement with Andy upon their breakup, granting her ownership of the channel, and therefore changing the password was not illegal. Before the final arguments, she submitted a 2-hour and 17-minute recording of their breakup discussion, asserting that Andy had agreed to transfer the channel, revenue, and trademarks to her. However, Andy denied unconditionally giving up his rights, stating they had agreed to co-own the channel with equal revenue sharing, with further distribution to be discussed later.

Company finances also became a central issue. Prosecutors alleged that from 2019 to 2024, Zeng Shuhui embezzled over NT$44.27 million in channel revenue and used family members’ personal data to inflate personnel costs, resulting in over NT$5.72 million in tax evasion. Zeng denied charges of breach of trust and embezzlement, admitting only to tax evasion and claiming she had engaged an accountant to handle back taxes with the tax authority. Zhang Jiayun also admitted to providing personal data to assist in tax evasion and requested leniency and a suspended sentence.

The conflict began when Andy publicly accused Jia-Ning in March 2025 of taking control of the 'Crowd CROWD' channel after their breakup. He claimed that despite generating substantial revenue over years, he received only a fixed salary and lost his company shares and directorship. The allegations quickly went viral, sparking public exchanges between the two. Qunhai Entertainment was later reported for tax evasion, leading to an investigation. Prosecutors indicted Jia-Ning’s family in July of the previous year. The first-instance verdict has now been delivered: Jia-Ning is acquitted, while her family members received sentences. This high-profile breakup between former YouTuber partners is not yet fully resolved.