Banker arrested in theft investigation

By Zhan Lisheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-27 08:44

GUANGZHOU: An executive with Guangdong Development Bank (GDB) confirmed on Friday that Wang Xin, the deputy president of the bank, had been taken away by the local procuratorate at a time when Li Ruohong, the bank's chairman, was leaving for health reasons.

"Wang Xin has been asked by the local procuratorate to assist in an investigation," said the GDB executive, who asked not to be named. He added that it would be inappropriate for the bank to make additional comments.

"None of the businesses and transformation projects will be affected," he told China Daily.

The executive confirmed that Dong Jianyue, former president of Bank of China's Beijing branch, had been appointed a director and the new chairman of GDB.

According to a report in Friday's Information Times, Wang, 58, was taken away by the procuratorate last Friday. The report said he was arrested on suspicion of involvement in embezzlement during the capital restructuring of the bank in 2005 and 2006.

In addition, Lei Da, a deputy general manager of the bank's assets management department, was reportedly arrested.

Li Shujin, a manager of the bank's general service office, is on bail receiving medical treatment, said the report.

The local procuratorate was unavailable for additional comment.

Wang was a director of GDB on behalf of China Life, one of its major stockholders.

As vice-president, he was responsible for handling 56 billion yuan ($8.23 billion) of non-performing assets, the newspaper said.

Those assets played a crucial role in the capital restructuring of the bank.

The bank also auctioned off 100 percent of the equity of a wholly-owned non-banking firm, as well as 1.72 billion yuan of financial claims of the non-banking firm.

GDB began to seek new investors in 2004 and a consortium led by Citigroup won an 18-month bidding war among overseas suitors for a stake in GDB in late 2006.

Citigroup led the consortium that paid 24.3 billion yuan ($3.1 billion) for the 20 percent stake. Citigroup got "management influence," but not control of the bank and its partners included China Life Insurance Co.

GDB's president, chief financial officer and chief credit officer were all Citigroup employees.

According to AP, the Beijing Times newspaper and Cajing, a leading business magazine, also confirmed the alleged arrest of the mid-size Chinese bank's deputy president.

The Beijing Times reported that investigators searched Wang's home and office. Both reports cited unidentified sources and gave no details of possible offenses.

Chinese banks have suffered several scandals recently involving allegations of embezzlement and other misconduct.

A Citigroup spokesman in Shanghai, Stephen Thomas, declined to comment.

The prosecutor's office in Guangzhou did not immediately respond to requests for information.

According to AP, GDB chairman, Li Ruohong, resigned unexpectedly on Monday, citing health reasons, according to the Chinese news reports.

AP contributed to the report