Chinese prosecutors have reportedly drummed up the arrest of a director of a listed big data company accused of embezzling $8 million and buying a bitcoin mining rig with the money.Li Qunnan denies the allegations, but the executive claims their evidence implicates him.
unauthorized use of funds by a director uncovered in November 2021
Prosecutors in Beijing, China, reportedly approved the arrest of a former director of a listed big data company who allegedly used illegally obtained funds to purchase a bitcoin mining rig. Li Qunnan, a director, is suspected of embezzling about $8 million (RMB 55.53 million) from Zhongchang Big Data, according to documents the company filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
According to one Chinesepress reportQunnan, the former chairman of Zhongchang Big Data, is believed to have embezzled the funds during his tenure as an executive at the company. Zhongchang Big Data claims that it first became aware of the unauthorized activities of this director in November 2021, when the company’s new management team conducted an “inspection of subsidiaries to standardize corporate governance.”
“Standardization of corporate governance” is an important issue for Mid-Long Big Data.
After an inspection revealed that it was Gunan that had misappropriated funds, the former director allegedly sent a statement to Chung Chang executives denying the allegations.
Company funds used to pay hosting fees
However, despite Qunnan’s denials, Zhongchang executives insist he is the culprit and have produced evidence to support their claims. For example, between January and September 2021, the company paid for a “server” worth $4.1 million, but it was not listed on the books, the executives claim. Upon examination, the servers were found to be “Whatsminer mining machines (model: M31S-76T44W), supercomputing servers (model S10Pro).”
Besides paying for the bitcoin mining machine, Zhongchang claims that the former director paid a total of $3.8 million in hosting fees using company funds.
Meanwhile, Qunnan has refused to cooperate with investigators and is believed to be currently out of the country, according to the report.
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