Jia Qizhen has become the latest of several local banking regulators in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region to have been placed under investigation on suspicion of corruption in connection with Baoshang Bank, a struggling lender taken over by regulators in May, reported Caixin.
Anti-graft watchdogs said in a Monday statement that Jia, an official at the Inner Mongolia branch of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), is suspected of “serious violations of (Communist Party) discipline and law.”
Jia is not formally charged with supervising Baoshang Bank, but multiple sources from the bank said that Jia had appeared on occasions like regulatory meetings and inspections just like he was in charge of supervising the bank.
Li Zhenxi, a former chairman of Baoshang Bank, was asked by authorities to assist with investigation in November. It was not clear at that time what investigation they were referring to, but multiple sources have told Caixin that Li gave Jia a property in Beijing worth over RMB 10 million ($2.3 million).
