Chinese police have frozen about 10 billion yuan (US$1.48 billion) of assets across more than 380 peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders in an escalated investigation into illicit financing.
Codenamed “Fox Hunt,” the operation spanned 16 countries and regions, including Thailand and Cambodia, and led to the arrests of 62 suspects implicated in Chinese P2P frauds since June last year, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said in a statement on Sunday.
It did not disclose more details, but said that police are still recouping losses.
While a lack of oversight contributed to a ballooning in P2P loans, the sector has come in for special scrutiny during a crackdown by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on financial risk.
Authorities are now dramatically shrinking the market, which spawned the nation’s biggest Ponzi scheme, protests in major cities and life-altering losses for thousands of savers.
At least 100 people have dropped out of contact or disappeared before the firms went bust, with some having fled overseas, the statement said.
The number of Chinese P2P lenders could drop by 70 percent this year to as few as 300, Shanghai-based Yingcan Group (盈燦集團) said in an estimate.
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