The chief executive officer of shoemaker Ultrasonic AG (US5), who was fired along with his son last week after they went missing, resurfaced in China and denied that he absconded with the company’s cash.
Wu Qingyong and his older son Wu Minghong, the chief operating officer, were dismissed on Sept. 18 after Frankfurt-listed Ultrasonic announced their whereabouts were unknown. The company said most of its cash had been transferred away and was “no longer in the company’s range of influence.”
Reports he had absconded with several billion yuan were “purely rumors,” the elder Wu said in avideo interview posted by Chinese web portal Sina.com yesterday. Wu said he was on holiday inHong Kong, and then went to the Philippines for medical treatment.
The former CEO had contacted Hong Kong-based chief financial officer Clifford Chan by telephone over the weekend, “claiming that he would return to the company and that he would also return the funds,” Ultrasonic said in a statement to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange today.
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A further attempt by the supervisory board to contact Wu in China was so far unsuccessful, according to Ultrasonic, whose main factory is in Jinjiang in southern Fujian province. It said Sept. 18 that insolvency procedures were imminent due to the incident.
Lost Mobile Phone
Shares of Ultrasonic jumped 121 percent to 1.99 euros as of 10:00 a.m. in Frankfurt trading, after plunging from 6.25 euros on Sept. 16 before announcing it couldn’t contact the two key managers. It’s the second time a senior executive from a Chinese company listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange has disappeared this year, increasing investors concerns.
The elder Wu, seen in the video seated next to a man identified as his second son Wu Mingjun, said he couldn’t be reached because he lost his mobile phone while in Manila and didn’t know English well.
Wu Mingjun, who was identified in the Sina report as a deputy general manager for Ultrasonic, said in the video he had been in contact with his older brother, who was “recovering from a condition.” He declined to say more.
Wu Minghong, who Ultrasonic announced on Sept. 12 had informed the company he was taking a six-month leave of absence because of health problems, didn’t appear in the video.
“The financial status of the company is normal,” the elder Wu said in the Sina report. The reports had “caused great loss” to the company and his own reputation, and he reserved the right to seek legal recourse, he said.
On Aug. 1, Frankfurt-listed Chinese company Youbisheng Green Paper AG (YB1) said it replaced Chief Executive Officer Haiming Huang after he disappeared. The company started preliminary insolvency proceedings two weeks later.
Date: September 22, 2014