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10b yuan raised illegally this year

By Cui Xiaohuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-18 07:44

More than 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) were raised illegally this year, and only one-fifth of the amount was seized, the Ministry of Public Security said yesterday.

Related readings:  Money-raising bill businesses brisk in Shanghai  Billionairess arrested for illegal money raising

Illegal fund-raising remains a threat to China's financial security, Zhang Tao, deputy director-general of the ministry's Economic Crime Investigation Department, said during an online chat with the public on the People's Daily website.

In the first 11 months of the year, 1,590 illegal fund-raising cases were reported to the police, out of which 1,416 were probed, he said.

In September, local authorities in Jishou, west Hunan province, started probing into 12 companies that allegedly cheated lenders of 7 billion yuan.

A dispute led to a demonstration by the lenders who blocked roads and railways, demanding the authorities' intervention.

Zhang said the suspects had already been arrested and questioned.

Experts believe clarifications in the law are required to crack down on illegal fund-raising.

"The current law fails to define illegal fund-raising clearly," Li Fazhi, a Shandong province lawyer, who specializes in swindling cases, said.

Li Shuguang, a professor of finance at the China University of Political Science and Law, said diversifying fund channels for private and small businesses and individuals would be an effective way to help reduce money swindling in the long run.

"The practice of unlawful fund-raising is booming simply because small firms are not able to secure legal funding," he said.