(Yicai) Aug. 9 -- Wu Xiaoan, executive director and chairman of Brilliance China Automotive Holdings, was detained for investigation by the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption, the company said yesterday.

Officials from the commission visited the firm’s Hong Kong offices with a search warrant on Aug. 3 and detained Wu on the same day for alleged violation of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, the company said, adding that Wu was released on bail the following day.

Brilliance China applied for a temporary trading halt to its shares [HKG: 1114] on the morning of Aug. 3. The stock ended unchanged today at HKD3.79 (48 US cents) after sliding 3.8 percent yesterday following the resumption of trading and the firm revealing Wu’s detention.

The Hong Kong-based company’s announcement did not offer any more details about the investigation. 

Wu has been in the auto industry for 28 years, and has been chairman of Brilliance China since June 2002. He was also chairman of BMW Brilliance Automotive, a joint venture between BMW and Brilliance China, from May 2003 before being reassigned to the post of vice chairman in February last year.

Wu has also been working since January 2018 as president of Renault Brilliance Jinbei Automotive, a JV between Renault Group and Brilliance China, which filed for bankruptcy in December 2021.

Brilliance Auto, the parent firm of Brilliance China, was declared insolvent in November 2020, and its former chairman was also investigated by anti-corruption authorities.

The firm has been making progress with its bankruptcy reorganization, and the day before Wu’s detention, a court in Shenyang said its reorganization plan had been approved and that Brilliance Auto’s actual controller would be changed to the city’s state-owned assets administrator.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Tom Litting