China's "richest tycoon" detained, state media says

Nov 24, 2008, 7:10 GMT

Beijing - Chinese authorities have detained a consumer electronics' tycoon reputed to be the country's wealthiest person over alleged share price manipulation, state media said Monday.

Stock market investigators detained Huang Guangyu, the head of Gome Electrical Appliances, for questioning last week, Caijing magazine and other media reported.

The investigations relate to manipulation of share prices last year for a company run by Huang's elder brother, Huang Junqin, the magazine quoted unidentified sources as saying.

Huang Guangyu, 39, also has extensive property and private equity interests, with estimated personal assets totalling 6.3 billion dollars, according to last month's annual 'China rich list' published by the Hurun Report.

Hong Kong-listed Gome made no immediate comment on the report, but its shares were suspended on Monday.

The official Xinhua news agency quoted a police spokesman as saying the case was 'under the direct charge of the Ministry of Public Security,' which declined to comment.

The Huang brothers were also investigated in 2006 for securing loans illegally, but cleared of the charges in January 2007, the agency said.

US-based Forbes magazine recently estimated Huang Guangyu's assets at about 2.7 billion dollars, ranking him second in its list of China's wealthiest people.