Quick Take: Brokerage Guodu Says Incommunicado Chairman Unable to Do Job

Midsize securities brokerage Guodu Securities Co. Ltd. said in a statement that its chairman Wang Shaohua can no longer perform his duties because the company has lost contact with him.

Wang has been under investigation by local prosecutors in eastern China’s Jiangxi province since May, people familiar with the matter told Caixin.

The investigation focused on more than 2 billion yuan ($300 million) in suspected unlawful loans that Wang approved during his previous job at a trust company, China Credit Trust Co. Ltd., the people said.

Guodu and China Credit Trust declined to comment further. Wang could not be reached for comment.

As part of the same investigation, prosecutors also detained Wang Zhongming, former chairman of China Credit Trust, the people said.

Before joining Guodu Securities as chairman in December 2014, Wang Shaohua, now 61 years old, had worked at China Credit Trust since 1996. He was the general manager of China Credit Trust from 2002 to 2014, before serving as chairman until November 2015.

During the first half of this year, China Credit Trust’s revenue rose 26.6% from a year earlier to 556 million yuan, while net profit was up 38.33% at 431 million yuan.

Contact reporter Dong Tongjian (tongjiandong@caixin.com)