Another Shanghai tycoon into trouble

Chen Liangyu
by Getty Images via DaylifeAnother Shanghai tycoon, Liu Genshan, is under investigation for fraud, writes the Shanghai Daily, quoting the Oriental Morning Post. Liu was also called the "Highway King" and is suspected from embezzling 4,3 b illion Renminbi (430 million euro). The Shanghai Daily:

Liu Genshan, 51, the chairman of a Hong Kong listed company and the 36th richest guy on Rupert Hoogewerf's 2004 list of "The 100 Richest People in China," once funded seven highways in Shanghai and neighboring Zhejiang Province. ...
A report to Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption at the beginning of 2005 said Liu moved 3 billion yuan in bank loans for highway projects overseas using illegal channels.
Liu used part of the money to buy a Hong Kong listed company and named it Maosheng Holdings.

The high-end power struggle between the central government and the rulers in Shanghai reached a highpoint a few years ago when Shanghai's party secretary Chen Liangyu was disposed off and got convicted. That proved to be also the beginning of the end of a set of Shanghai-based tycoons, who had profited from Chen's unstoppable construction fever.