Scandal Hits State Owned Oil Giants(1)

From Nation, page 9, issue no. 342, November 19th 2007
Translated by Liu Peng
Original article: [Chinese]

EO exclusive: Subsidiaries of two major Chinese state-owned enterprises have used the services of an underground banking network.

The Shenzhen-based money laundering ring broke headlines as the largest in the country ever discovered by authorities, and continuing investigations have revealed the involvement of several high-profile Chinese businesses.

The EO has learned that oil product sales companies affiliated to Petrochina and Sinopec in Shenzhen had tapped the illegal network to transfer funds from Hong Kong.

On June 26th, Shenzhen Public Security Bureau and Foreign Exchange Administrative Bureau jointly busted the illicit network with funds running into 4.3 billion yuan.

On August 6th, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange announced on its website that some established state-owned companies were linked to the scandal but did not name them.

Because investigations are still in progress, the authorities are not revealing many details. Yang Jun, office director of Shenzhen's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, told the EO that the companies involved are Shenzhen-based branches of central and provincial level state-owned enterprises.

But details on a funds transfer list originating from the illegal network betrayed the companies concrete identities: Sinopec Shenzhen Oil Products Branch Company (hereafter as Sinopec Shenzhen) appeared as a receiver in the list from January 2006 to May 2007.

The paying party is Shenzhen Zhong Hengda Trade Company, which has been identified by the police as a fund transfer agency managed by the underground network.

Also in the list are Shenzhen Lianjia Liang'antian Gas Station company (hereafter Lianjia) and Shenzhen Fang Xing Da Gas Station under Fangxing Industry Company.

Business and financial data reveals that Lianjia has two shareholders. One is Shenzhen Long'gang Oil Company, a Sinopec Shenzhen subsidiary, holding 10 percent of Lianjia shares.