Hong Kong – Missing Chinese billionaire Xiao Jianhua is assisting mainland authorities with investigations into the country’s 2015 stock market turmoil, local media reported on Thursday.
The media said that Xiao was last seen on Jan. 26 at the Four Seasons in Hong Kong, was “persuaded” to cooperate by mainland agents who showed up at his apartment in the luxury hotel complex.
On Wednesday, Hong Kong police had said they were investigating Xiao’s disappearance and that he had crossed into the Chinese mainland on Jan. 26.
“The investigation is believed to centre on “manipulation that contributed to panic selling” on the stock market in 2015,’’ the media said.
It noted that the inquiry also is said to be linked to Ma Jian, the former vice minister of state security who is being investigated for alleged corruption.
Report says since Chinese President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, over 1 million officials have been punished for corruption.
Xiao is founder of the Tomorrow Group, a holding company for a vast business empire with stakes in Chinese state-dominated industries including banking, insurance, property, coal, cement and rare-earth minerals.
“The businessman’s apparent disappearance sparked concerns in Hong Kong that mainland agents might have violated the city’s rule of law, though the circumstances of their visit remain unclear,’’ the media reported.