An anti-corruption investigation by Dalian Wanda Group Co. led to three of the firm’s executives being taken away by police, according to people briefed on the matter.
(Bloomberg) — An anti-corruption investigation by Dalian Wanda Group Co. led to three of the firm’s executives being taken away by police, according to people briefed on the matter.
Liu Haibo, senior vice president of Wanda Group, and two other unnamed managers were investigated, the people said, who asked not to be identified speaking about private matters. Wanda held an internal meeting last Thursday to announce the matter, they said. The amount involved is more than 100 million yuan ($13.9 million), said one of the people.
A representative for Wanda Group declined to comment.
A report earlier this week by the state-owned outlet The Paper of Liu being taken into custody by police had prompted speculation there was a government probe of Wanda. That isn’t the case and uncovering of possible misconduct was the result of an internal investigation by Wanda, the people said.
The development occurred at a critical time for Wanda, which has experienced unprecedented volatility in credit markets recently. The conglomerate is one of the few Chinese junk-rated developers to have avoided defaulting on public dollar-debt.
Read about Wanda’s efforts to avoid default
Liu has been at Wanda for more than a decade, working as vice president in its former commercial properties unit, and later as a senior vice president at its headquarters, according to various statements on the company website. He was still at the firm as of July 25, when he accompanied Chairman Wang Jianlin on a business trip to meet city officials in central Henan province, according to a company statement.
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