China Telecoms IndustryPassports held in graft probe by Tony Liaw
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Passports of several mid-level managers at China Mobile (0941), China Unicom (0762) and China Telecom (0728) have been confiscated, as the corruption probe into the telecoms industry widens, mainland media reported yesterday.
The Central Supervision Commission has deployed investigators at the offices of all three leading telecom operators as well as several retailers and service providers, reports said.
Earlier this month,
Ma Li, deputy general manager of the data department at China Mobile, was taken away by authorities on suspicion of "seriously violating discipline."
More than 60 people have been detained and questioned so far, and inquiries are expected to last until the end of the year.
The investigations which began last year are being conducted across two to three provinces simultaneously.
All three telecom firms now face the prospect of undergoing a thorough audit this year and the next.
Previous probes led to the arrest of seven senior managers at China Mobile in 2009.
China Mobile former vice president Zhang Chunjiang was the first senior executive to be implicated. Zhang was the
chairman of China Netcom in 2008, when that firm integrated with China Unicom.
China Mobile
former head of human resources Shi Wanzhong was detained in early 2010 for allegedly
receiving US$5 million (HK$39 million) from Siemens.
Former head of data business
Ye Bing is also in custody. Ye was also the former
chief executive of Aspire Technology Holding - a data services provider to China Mobile.
Li Xiangdong, the former general manager of Sichuan Wireless Music Base, a unit of China Mobile, was arrested last May after the National Audit Office discovered problems with his personal assets.
Shares of China Mobile fell 0.2 percent to HK$69.90, while China Unicom rose 2.9 percent to HK$17.28. China Telecom gained 0.7 percent to HK$4.59.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_deta ... 10531&fc=2
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"