Saturday, 2 January 2010

Sino-Environment chairman cleared of allegations in China

In a statement yesterday, the China-based waste management and environmental solutions company said investigations by the Fuzhou Public Security Bureau yielded no evidence to prove Mr. Sun embezzled company funds.

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Guanyu said...

Sino-Environment chairman cleared of allegations in China

Investigations yield no evidence to prove he embezzled company funds, says the firm

By WINSTON CHAI
02 December 2010

Strife-torn Sino-Environment Technology Group ushered in 2010 with some good tidings - its chairman Sun Jiangrong has been cleared of misappropriation allegations by the authorities in China.

In a statement yesterday, the China-based waste management and environmental solutions company said investigations by the Fuzhou Public Security Bureau yielded no evidence to prove Mr. Sun embezzled company funds.

‘The bureau has therefore decided not to place the case on file,’ Sino-Environment said.

Allegations of misappropriation against Mr. Sun were made by the company’s independent directors (IDs) in Singapore, Hong Kong and China on Oct 12 last year through its former financial controller Raynauld Liang and outspoken ID Wong Chiang Yin.

The allegations were prompted by a special audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) that drew attention to ‘questionable cash transactions and matters which may have a significant impact on the financial position of the company’.

According to PwC, tens of millions of dollars of transactions by Sino-Environment were carried out without board approval or authorisation.

This contravened specific instructions from the IDs that all payments above $500,000 had to follow official protocol.

The sacking of Mr. Liang, after he lodged complaints to various authorities, drew further flak from the IDs. They eventually obtained a Supreme Court order to convene a shareholders’ meeting this month to vote on the removal of Sino-Environment’s executive directors (EDs), including Mr. Sun.

They also obtained court orders forbidding the EDs from selling major company assets and signing new contracts of significant value.

Trading in Sino-Environment’s shares has been suspended since Sept 23 last year.