British fraud investigator linked to drugmaker GSK is arrested in Shanghai

A British fraud investigator who had worked with pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), which is being investigated for alleged bribery on the mainland, has been arrested, according to reports yesterday.

Peter Humphrey, founder and managing director of the risk management consultancy ChinaWhys, was arrested on July 10 in Shanghai, according to Dow Jones Newswires, which quoted unidentified sources.

Humphrey's clients included GSK, according to the report.

Police have accused GSK of bribing officials and doctors to boost sales and raise the price of its medicines on the mainland. The drugmaker allegedly transferred up to three billion yuan (HK$3.76 billion) to 700 travel agencies and consultancies over six years to organise the bribes.

A spokesman for GSK, Britain's biggest drugmaker, declined to confirm if it had employed Humphrey as a contractor, Dow Jones said.

"We are aware of the arrest of the British national in Shanghai in China on July 10," a British Foreign Office spokesman said. "We are providing consular assistance to the family."

Details of the arrest were not known.