China Bohai Bank, a national joint-stock commercial bank, has been accused of secretly using a client's USD 438 million in deposits as collateral.
The accusations came from 'Jiangxi Jemincare Group Co' enterprise, which informed that its deposits in Bohai Bank were secretly used as collateral by the bank for a petrochemical company in Nanjing, an English-language newspaper in East China, SHINE reported.
The enterprise also said that there was no connection between the two firms.
The news has made Bohai Bank a trending topic on China's Weibo microblogging website, drawing 240 million clicks and around 8,000 discussions as of Wednesday afternoon.
If the deposit is to be used as a pledge, it is generally necessary for companies to provide a number of certification materials, and under normal circumstances, banks should do strict audit control when handling such business, industry insiders were quoted as saying by SHINE.
Meanwhile, Bohai Bank had issued a notice on its official website on Sunday, saying it has noted certain media reports regarding the pledge and guarantee business of its Nanjing Branch, SHINE informed.
"We have reported the matter to the public security authorities after discovering 'abnormal behaviours among (our) enterprise clients' and will seek judicial solutions according to law," the bank said.
The case is still under investigation and people involved may bear fixed-term imprisonment of more than five years, a lawyer informed.
The Jiangxi Jemincare Group Co focuses on R&D and the production of modern Chinese medicine, biological agents and healthcare products.
( With inputs from ANI )
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