Some Chinese bank clients, whose accounts were frozen in April, were injured while staging a protest at the Zhengzhou branch offices of the country’s central bank. Reports from local media outlets suggest that as much as $6 billion in client funds is missing and the individual believed to be behind the disappearance is now outside China.
Chinese residents protesting the freezing of their accounts by three banks in Zhengzhou, are reported to have stormed the branch offices of the central bank on Sunday, July 10. Reports say some of the protestors were injured when Chinese law enforcement agents used heavy-handed tactics to disperse the angry mob.
The banks’ continued silence as well as authorities’ reported use of China’s Covid-19 health codes to block 1,000 clients’ attempts to withdraw back in June, have lent credence to claims the funds were stolen.
The state-run Global Times has previously said the three banks — Yuzhou Xinminsheng Village Bank, Shangcai Huimin Country Bank, and the Zhecheng Huanghuai Community Bank — face a probe that relates to their “illegal fundraising” activities.
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