Two high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Public Security have been taken in for questioning on suspicion of accepting bribes while probing financial crimes, Caijing magazine reported yesterday.

Zheng Shaodong, assistant minister of public security and director of the economic criminal investigation bureau, and Xiang Huaizhu, the bureau's deputy director, were questioned by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on Jan 12, the report said.

The pair's detention is linked to investigations into Lian Chao, an investor in the five-star gaming ship Neptune, which operates in waters near Hong Kong and Macao, it said.

Mainland police detained Lian at the end of last year for allegedly helping Huang Guangyu, the former chairman of Gome Appliances, to launder money.

According to airline records, in the first 10 months of last year, Huang traveled more than 10 times between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao.

Lian is alleged to have helped Huang travel between the places incognito, and is also accused of having helped Du Juan, Huang's wife, flee China after police began investigating her husband's activities, the report said.

However, authorities have yet to confirm a direct link between Huang and the two officials, it said.

An official with the ministry's publicity department told China Daily yesterday that he could provide no details about the reported investigation.

Huang faces charges of manipulating the share prices of Sanlian Commercial Co and Beijing Centergate Technologies, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in November.

Huang resigned as a director of Gome Electrical on Sunday, the company said in a notice to the Hong Kong Exchanges.

He also ceased to be chairman of the group from Friday, it said.

Huang's resignation was a result of his "inability to perform his duties as a director of the company," it said, and the resignation will not materially affect the business and operations of the group.

Chen Xiao has been appointed chairman and CEO, effective from Friday, the notice said.

He had been appointed acting chairman on Nov 27.

China Daily

(China Daily 01/20/2009 page3)