PING An Trust, the Shenzhen-based Ping An Group’s company of trust investment, announced Saturday that its clients’ benefits were not affected by the recently disclosed scam, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

    In the previously reported scam, a sum of 1.45 billion yuan (US$211 million) collected from investors was embezzled by bank staff, Ping An employees and other people involved in the case.

    A staffer from Ping An Trust declined to comment on the case, but emphasized Saturday that the company had always been operating its clients’ funds legally and their benefits had not been affected. He added that the company would preserve its rights through legal means.

    The scam was discovered by Ping An Trust at the beginning of 2015 when a branch bank of Agricultural Bank of China in Zhumadian, Henan Province that was holding a sum for them failed to return the money to the trust company.

    Between June 2013 and October 2014, Ping An Trust had transferred a total of 1.45 billion yuan over five transactions to an account at the Zhumadian branch bank for a fixed deposit to earn profit. The sum was collected from investors who purchased a financial product released by Ping An Trust.

    However, under the covert deals made by a staff member with Ping An Group known as Zhou, who was in charge of dealing with the capital pool of this particular financial product, and an employee surnamed Yao from the branch bank, the two sides forged documents to convince Ping An Trust that the money had been deposited in a safe account.

    Zhou and Yao met under the arrangement of an intermediary known as Xiao who made a fake recommendation letter to conceal the fact from Ping An Trust. Xiao earned 100 million yuan for dealing with the transaction.

    With Zhou, Yao and Xiao’s tricks, the money was held in an account at the bank, but was used at will by the bank’s employees and some other entrepreneurs in the area during the fixed period.

    Although Yao and the bank had gotten away with the first two payments, he failed to return the third sum to the trust company when the fixed term ended in 2014.

    At the beginning of 2015, Ping An Trust dispatched inspectors to the branch bank of Agricultural Bank of China and the truth was uncovered.

    It was later verified that by Nov. 28, 2014, the bank had only returned a principal sum of 766 million with an additional 21.46 million yuan in interest to Ping An Trust, but still owed the company 684 million yuan.

    Members of the scam group were charged with the crimes of fraud and bribery by non-State officials. The case is being heard at Zhumadian’s intermediate court. (Zhang Qian)