Whistle-blower accuses China Resources chief of corruption
Mainland journalist alleges in microblog letter that China Resources chairman Song Lin was involved in dealings that lost state billions
A mainland journalist working for a newspaper controlled by Xinhua yesterday accused the head of a key state-owned conglomerate of corruption and wrongdoing that "led to the loss of billions in state-owned assets".
In a letter posted on his weibo microblog, Wang Wenzhi, a principal reporter with the , accused China Resources (Holdings) chairman Song Lin and other senior managers of intentionally overpaying for a 2010 acquisition.
China Resources (Holdings), a Hong Kong-registered conglomerate, issued a statement last night saying that the weibo posting and reports about it carried by some news outlets were libellous, and had negatively affected the company and the image of its management. It said it reserved the right to sue and claim damages.
"I'm levelling allegations against Song Lin because he is the chief culprit," Wang told the yesterday. "He's the mastermind behind many shady decisions.
"I received the relevant material from someone and decided to take it into my own hands. I spent about half a year investigating it, including several visits to Shanxi."
Wang accused Song of intentionally buying "poor-quality coal assets" in Shanxi province at an "incredibly" high price and paying the money in advance at irregular intervals, a practice he said may have caused the group to suffer billions of yuan in losses.
Subsidiary China Resources Power (CRP) was part of a joint venture that paid 7.9 billion yuan (HK$9.9 billion) for an 80 per cent stake in the Shanxi Jinye Coal coking group that another party valued at half that price months before the deal, Wang said on weibo.