Wumart founder under investigation

Retailer Wumart announced Monday that its chairman and founder resigned last week because he was assisting the government with an investigation, the <i>Financial Times</i> reported. Wumart, the largest supermarket chain in Beijing, did not give any details about the nature of the probe involving Zhang Wenzhong or say whether the company had been asked to cooperate. But it did say that Zhang will remain on the board and could return to a senior position once the investigation was completed. The company's shares have been suspended from trading since last Monday and it has been forced to shelve plans for a US$85.9 million share placement that was supposed to raise expansion capital.