A SHENZHEN-BASED fund management company is under investigation for not being able to pay back 3 billion yuan (US$473 million) that it owes to investors, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday.

    The head office of Gold Match Silver Fund Management Co. Ltd. in Luohu District has been closed down, while the company’s head, Wang Weiqi, hasn’t been seen since September.

    Police in Luohu District are looking into the case in which the company is suspected of raising funds illegally.

    According to the company’s website, the company was founded in 2011 with 32 branches nationwide, and it managed funds worth up to 15 billion yuan. Shenzhen investors can buy the company’s financial investment products from insurance companies and banks.

    The company’s statistics show that the company failed to pay buyers of 27 financial products when their investments mature, involving 6 billion yuan.

    In April, some investors were unable to withdraw their investments from the company. According to data from the company’s law firm, over 3 billion yuan of funds cannot be cashed out.

    “My last phone call with Wang was in September when he said the company will return part of the funding to the investors, but later police started to investigate the company and he just disappeared,” said an investor, surnamed Li.

    Li said she was informed in May that the money she invested could be traded normally, but when something went wrong with the other financial products, her funds were “suspended” by the company. Li said that the person in charge of her investments had left the company.

    An investor said the company is allegedly running a Ponzi scheme, in which it used newly raised money to pay for other mature products.

    A staff member at the company said the leadership knew about the problems last year, because some senior managers left the company a few months ago and founded a new company.

    Shenzhen’s securities regulatory commission conducted an inspection of the company in early April, finding that some managers were combining their own money with investors’ money when making investments.

    The company was ordered to correct problems, including inaccurate registered information.

    (Zhang Yang)