Cover-Credits:
Team SoloMid (TSM) confirmed through an internal investigation that its former League of Legends coach Zhang "Peter Zhang" Yi was guilty of financial irregularities, took money from player salaries, and acted as a middleman between the players and other third parties, according to a report by Dexerto.
Dexerto reported, “TSM now claim[s] it has been confirmed that Zhang diverted player salaries and withheld owed money amounting to over $300,000 following an internal investigation.”
On 19th March, TSM released an official statement on its Twitter handle which read, “We were recently made aware of the very serious allegations of conflict of interest and unethical practices against League of Legends coach Peter Zhang. After an initial investigation, we terminated him effective immediately. We are working with external legal counsel to complete a full investigation.” Following this, League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) Commissioner Jackie Felling confirmed that Zhang’s firing had nothing to do with match-fixing or betting.
Soon after this, the North American (NA) organization commenced an internal investigation against Peter Zhang.
Claims made in the TSM's investigation against Coach Peter Zhang
The investigation was spearheaded by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP which claimed that Zhang diverted approximately $250K USD in salary payments from two TSM players to himself and third parties. He also only reportedly returned $35K USD to Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh, whose car he had sold for $80K USD when SwordArt returned to Asia.
Additionally, Zhang attempted to borrow from as many as eight TSM players and staff members allegedly for his grandmother’s medical treatment in China. The report added, “Mr. Zhang attempted to solicit amounts between $1,500 to approximately $22,000 per player. Two players lent Mr. Zhang a total of approximately $15,000, of which Mr. Zhang has since repaid approximately $10,500. The company became aware of Mr. Zhang’s solicitation for loans on or around March 18, 2022, and took immediate action to stop more money from being lent to Mr. Zhang, including reversing several scheduled wire transfers.”
TSM prevented approximately $54K from being sent to Zhang and to date, he has yet to return $4.5K USD.
According to Dexerto, Zhang also refused to cooperate with the investigation and respond to emails or phone calls, stating that his “internet and phone line were unreliable.” The investigation also revealed that Zhang could have possibly leaked classified information to outsiders to facilitate his business.
