Police have arrested a Chinese bank teller accused of defrauding his bank of 354 million yuan (€43 million) in one of Shanghai's biggest financial scams, the Shanghai Dailyreports today.
The teller, who worked for the local branch of a Beijing bank, is alleged to have begun forging seals on loan documents in 1997, taking out 21 loans in the name of a Shanghai printing plant, the newspaper quoted a police official as saying.
A police spokeswoman generally confirmed the newspaper report but declined further comment to Reuters.
The newspaper quoted police investigator Lu Jianbing as saying the arrested teller liked to play the boss and was always surrounded by people who were asking him for favours.
The 29 year-old teller shared his newfound wealth with friends, the newspaper said, handing 20 million yuan to a friend who wanted to open a hotel and also funding his cronies' bets on stocks and football matches.
Another police spokeswoman, Fang Dinghua, was quoted as saying the alleged scam was Shanghai's biggest-ever economic fraud in recent years.
Up to seven other suspects were arrested for aiding or blackmailing the teller, the newspaper said. One of those suspects was accused of helping him forge the seals - before blackmailing the teller for two million yuan.
The unnamed Beijing-based bank unearthed the case in September when it checked with the printing plant on its loan documents, the newspaper said.
The teller went into hiding but was picked up by police five days after a manhunt was launched, it said.
The bank eventually posted a 108 million yuan net loss after recovering part of the stolen money, the newspaper said. The teller now faces two counts of forgery and defrauding which could land him behind bars for life, it reported.
The case is the latest in a string of scandals that has plagued China's financial sector.
In one high-profile case that surfaced just last month, former China Construction Bank head Wang Xuebing was sacked over problem loans during his tenure at the country's premier foreign exchange bank, the Bank of China. He is now under investigation.