Wison records seized as probe widens

Wison Engineering Services, a supplier to PetroChina, said mainland authorities had taken company records and temporarily frozen some of its bank accounts amid a widening probe into the giant oil producer and its parent, China National Petroleum Corp.

Wison also said it was no longer able to contact its chairman and founder, Hua Bangsong, who the company has said was assisting the authorities in the investigation. In a statement, Wison said Zhao Hongbin, the manager of the finance department of the company’s unit, Wison Engineering, was also assisting in the investigation. Wison said it was not aware of the nature of the probe.

In a separate filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange, the company said its executive director and chief financial officer, Chen Wenfeng, had resigned from his post to pursue other business opportunities.

Last night, the firm said Jojo Choy Sze-chung had resigned as a director and chairman of the audit committee.

“As part of their investigations, the regulatory authorities made enquiries about certain projects of the group, have taken books and records and frozen certain bank accounts of the group,” the company said in the statement. “The company was not told the reason for freezing our bank accounts.