Investigation into false red health codes continues

Depositors of four local rural banks in Henan province are urged to find time to register their true information via an online platform as the related investigations have made great progress, according to a notice released on Friday on the website of the Local Financial Supervision and Administration of Henan Province.

Relevant departments are screening information to make settlement plans and drafting solutions, said the notice.

Chinese media reported that several banks in Henan are suspected of having lured depositors with much higher deposit interest rates than those provided by the country's major State-owned banks. Since April, four rural banks in Henan have closed their online services.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said that police had filed a case to investigate Henan New Fortune Group, a shareholder of the four banks, as it allegedly absorbed public funds through internal and external collusion as well as the use of third-party platforms and capital brokers.

The four rural banks received huge attention not only because of the closed online service but also because the depositors claimed they were given a red health code notification on their cellphones, which stopped them from withdrawing money from the banks.

In the colored health code system, green codes guarantee access to public areas, while red codes serve as a warning of infection, possible infection or close contacts, meaning quarantining is required and entry to public venues and transport is restricted.