Former ChinaCast chairman accused in theft of $150 million

ChinaCast Education Corp sued its former chairman over claims he and others stole more than $150 million of the online education company's funds and assets over a four-year period.

Chan Tze Ngon, ChinaCast's founder and ex-chairman, and Jiang Xiangyuan, the company's chief investment officer, misappropriated more than $64 million raised in US stock offerings starting in 2008 by transferring the funds to companies they owned, ChinaCast said in a Delaware Chancery Court lawsuit.

Chan and Jiang also transferred ownership of three Chinese colleges that ChinaCast had acquired to associates outside the company once newly elected directors took steps to oust the men, according to the complaint filed on Monday in Wilmington. "As a result of these transfers, ChinaCast no longer owns its three most significant revenue-generating assets," officials said in the suit.