Huang Guangyu, founder and former chairman of Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings Ltd, has now been charged with illegal operations, insider trading and offering bribes, according to the state-run China News Service. Huang has been described as the “richest person in China” in earlier press accounts.
Bloomberg reports that Communist Party officials including Shenzhen mayor Xu Zongheng and deputy police minister Zheng Shaodong have been fired or investigated in connection with Huang’s case, the largest sweep since a 2006-2008 crackdown in Shanghai.
Huang’s indictment comes at a time when China has reportedly been cracking down on corruption, with former China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. chairman Chen Tonghai given a suspended death sentence for bribery in July.
