BEIJING (AFP) — China's second-richest person, who made his fortune building up the nation's largest home appliance chain, has been detained on suspicion of market manipulation, state media reported on Monday.
Hong Kong-listed shares in Huang Guangyu's company, Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings, were also suspended on Monday, according to a statement from the firm to the city's stock exchange.
The shares were suspended "pending the release of an announcement in relation to price sensitive information", the statement said.
This followed a report on the website of Chinese state-run finance magazine Caijing saying 39-year-old Huang had been detained and was under investigation on suspicion of market manipulation.
The magazine, which did not reveal its sources, said he was held Wednesday last week. Other Chinese media outlets carried the story.
The company was scheduled to release its third-quarter results later in the day, but a conference call had been cancelled, said Erika Xu, an executive at Gome's investor relations department.
"It's because it's such a sensitive time, with the news report that has come out," she told AFP.
Caijing said Huang was allegedly involved in price manipulation of a company controlled by his brother, Huang Junqin.
The share price one of Huang Junqin's companies, Shanghai Jintai Co. Ltd., has fluctuated dramatically for almost the past two years, Caijing noted, without saying how Huang Guangyu was involved.
With assets of 18.4 billion yuan (2.7 billion dollars), Huang was ranked as number two on a list of China's richest people issued by US magazine Forbes in October.
Coming out on top in the Forbes rich list was Shanghai-based agricultural feed tycoon Liu Yongxing with a net worth of three billion dollars.
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