Court accepts case against former insurance executive

Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court has accepted a case in which local prosecutors charged the head of a local insurance company with fundraising fraud, the court said Monday.

The defendant, Chen Yi, 35, was the former general manager of Shanghai Fanxin Insurance Agency Co.

On August 12, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau received a report that Chen had fled the country after she was found to be involved in financial crimes, according to a previous report in the Xinmin Evening News. Two days later, the company announced that Chen had been dismissed from her position as general manger.

The Shanghai office of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission announced on August 15 that Shanghai Fanxin Insurance Agency Co was selling unauthorized fixed-income financial agreements, the court said.

Police caught Chen in Fiji on August 19 and brought her back to China, according to previous media reports. Chen stands accused of leaving the country with 500 million yuan ($81.65 million) in stolen company funds.

The company has not confirmed that Chen stole funds, and the court did not disclose the amount of money involved in the case.

Jiang Jie, an insurance consultant at the company, was also prosecuted on an unspecified charge, the court said.

Established in 2007, Fanxin began to focus on life insurance products in 2010 after Chen joined the company, according to report on the business news website caixin.com.

The company expanded aggressively to become Shanghai's largest insurance dealer.

Its clients included Sunshine Insurance Group, Happy Life Insurance Co, Kunlun Health Insurance Co, Taikang Life Insurance Co, AEGON-CNOOC Life Insurance Co and Sun Life Everbright Life Insurance Co. In 2011, Fanxin clinched new insurance contracts with premiums totaling 150 million yuan. In 2012, its premium revenue reached 480 million yuan.