Ex-head of shoe firm denies theft

(Reuters in Shanghai) Updated: 2014-09-23 07:05

The former chief executive of embattled Germany-listed Chinese shoe manufacturer Ultrasonic AG has resurfaced in China to deny absconding with millions of dollars of company money, telling local media he had been traveling and lost his phone.

CEO Wu Qingyong, who was dismissed last week after his abrupt disappearance, separately told an Ultrasonic executive he would return to the company and give back any funds, the firm said in a statement on Monday.

In a video interview with Chinese news outlet Sina, posted late on Sunday, Wu said the entire matter was a misunderstanding and that he had simply been on holiday with his grandson and lost his mobile phone.

"Rumors say I took more than 1 billion yuan ($614 million). This is pure rumor. No such thing has happened. The company's financial situation remains normal," Wu said.

The company statement said Wu had contacted the company's chief financial officer, Clifford Chan, and a German broker by phone over the weekend, claiming that "he would return to the company and that he would also return the funds".

Ultrasonic said last Tuesday that Wu and his son, Chief Operating Officer Wu Minghong, had been missing since the weekend, and most of the company's cash reserves in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong had vanished. On Thursday, the company said the pair had withdrawn the cash in two tranches.

In the seven-minute interview, Wu said that he intended to investigate and track down those responsible for publishing the "announcement" as well as spreading the rumors.

Wu's comments appear to conflict with those of the supervisory board of Ultrasonic, which formally dismissed him on Thursday, saying he and his son had drawn down a $60 million credit facility in August and transferred money to the Chinese mainland from Hong Kong before disappearing.

Shares in Ultrasonic have dived more than 80 percent in the past week after reports of the scandal emerged.