The chairman of a private company who was allegedly involved in a pension fund scandal in Shanghai, which led to the dismissal of the municipality's Party Secretary Chen Liangyu, was stripped of his membership in the top political advisory body yesterday.

The decision was made by the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Zhang Rongkun, chairman of Shanghai Fuxi Investment Holding Company and former director of State-owned Shanghai Electric Group, was taken into custody in July and is under investigation for fraud.

Zhang, 38, was ranked as China's 16th richest man by Forbes magazine last year, with an estimated fortune of 4.9 billion yuan (US$600 million).

Shanghai courts froze the assets of Fuxi Investment Holding Company, a company controlled by Zhang that holds shares in Shanghai Electric, amid allegations Fuxi used funds illicitly loaned by a city pension fund to buy toll roads and other assets.

(China Daily 10/17/2006 page1)