Wealth a liability in China: Tycoons jailed on fraud, tax-evasion charges

By Tim Johnson - McClatchy Newspapers |The Seattle Times
November 07, 2006

BEIJING — If popping up on the list of China's richest tycoons is a jinx, as some attest, then Huang Guangyu may be in for more tough days.

Forbes Magazine on Thursday anointed Huang, 37, the head of a home-appliance retailing empire, as China's richest man, with a net worth of $2.3 billion.

But it didn't bode well. First, China's premier financial magazine said Huang and his brother were under a criminal probe on suspicion of obtaining loans fraudulently. Then the Hong Kong stock market briefly halted trading in shares of his company, GoMe Appliances.

By Thursday afternoon, a spokesman for GoMe Appliances, He Yangqing, was denying the probe and pooh-poohing Huang's No. 1 spot on the wealth ranking.

"We have no comment on the Forbes list. We are focusing on improving our business rather than on how people rank us," He said.

Huang was ranked No. 4 last year, and his wealth has almost doubled in the past 12 months. As a result, his mounting troubles surprise few Chinese. This week's spate of ill fortune only underscores how Chinese view tycoons with fascination and derision.

They marvel at the savvy of new entrepreneurs in China's go-go economy, but they also wonder whether the wealth was earned legitimately. A number of high-flying tycoons sit in jail on fraud and tax-evasion charges.

Other entrepreneurs beg to stay off the list, wary of tax collectors. The rich list has been dubbed the "pig killing list" in vernacular Chinese, meaning that any pig fat enough to get on it is ready for the slaughterhouse.

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