Former Bank of China chairman investigated by graft agency

Friday, March 31, 2023, Vol. 47, No. 14

BEIJING (AP) — A former chairman of Bank of China Ltd., one of the country's four major state-owned lenders, is under investigation by the ruling Communist Party's anti-corruption agency, state TV reported Friday, adding to a string of high-level financial figures ensnared in a marathon crackdown.

Liu Liange, who also is a former party secretary of the bank, is suspected of "serious disciplinary violations," China Central Television said on its website. The one-sentence report gave no details of the allegations against Liu.

Figures including bank executives, a deputy central bank governor and a former insurance regulator have been caught up in the crackdown led by Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The campaign is popular with the public and has allowed Xi to sideline political rivals.

The former head of a state-owned asset management company was put to death in 2021 on charges of taking bribes. Others have been sentenced to long prison terms.