368 ICBC officials punished for bank irregularities
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-11-03 09:54

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the nation's biggest state-owned lender, punished 368 officials and employees and dismissed 42 others after a probe by China's top auditor revealed irregularities involving 6.9 billion yuan (US$833.7 million), the National Audit Office said.

The audit office found problems in the Beijing-based lender's bill business, consumer lending and loans to local governments and private companies after an eight-month inspection of 21 subsidiaries, the agency said in a report on its Website.

"Some branches only sought short-term interest at the cost of the bank's long-term development," the audit agency said. "Others ignored risk control and blindly expanded their business, causing risks in some banking businesses."

The audit report said that in one case uncovered by investigators, 110 million yuan was illegally withdrawn from an ICBC branch.

Elsewhere, 1 billion yuan in corporate loans ended up in individual saving accounts. It said a portion of that money was illegally transferred abroad.

China is stepping up monitoring of state-owned banks, part of a government effort to strengthen lenders ahead of greater competition with overseas rivals such as HSBC Holdings Plc and Citicorp Inc. ICBC has lagged the Bank of China and the China Construction bank in shedding bad loans and reorganizing into companies eligible for listing.

ICBC accounted for 19 percent of China's banking assets at the end of 2003.

The audit report adds to an avalanche of cases of embezzlement, fraudulent loans and other wrongdoing that have cost state-owned banks heavily.

The National Audit Office also exposed a number of corruption cases, involving the Ministry of Land and Resources, and the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping.

Embezzlement of funds dedicated to special projects valued at 6.307 million yuan was uncovered in the land ministry's 2003 financial budget.

The auditing report said the funds designated to special projects were used as wages and bonuses for ministry functionaries or to make up administrative expenses between 2000 and 2003.

Meanwhile, 4.18 million yuan in fees, charged by the survey and mapping bureau, were not promptly turned over to the central government, according to an audit of its 2003 finances.

From October 2003 to February 2004, the National Audit Office audited the financial accounts of eight ministries and commissions directly under the State Council, or the central government.

The report also acknowledged that the people concerned in the land ministry, survey bureau and ICBC cases have been criticized, penalized or fired, and some of the embezzled funds have been returned.

On June 24, Auditor-General Li Jinhua told the national legislature that embezzlement of public funds was discovered in 55 ministries and commissions under the State Council.

According to the auditing report, 41 ministries and commissions improperly used as much as 1.42 billion yuan of money earmarked to special projects for construction of residential and office buildings for their own use.

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