Former ICBC executive accused of borrowing $2.1m illegally

A former employee of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has been accused of obtained nearly 13 million yuan ($2.1 million) by taking advantage of his position at the company, China Business News reported on Friday.

ICBC's Shanghai branch confirmed that Liu Yao, a former middle-ranking executive in its credit department, had borrowed money from several clients in his own name, and had failed to pay them off in time, causing major problems for the company.

But the branch emphasized it was Liu's personal behavior, and he had already resigned.

The report quoted an anonymous lender as saying that Liu has borrowed a total of 12.8 million yuan over five different occasions.

Another banker, Xu Feng, a former employee of Wenzhou Bank's Shanghai branch was also involved in the illegal activity.

The lenders said they could not get their loan repaid by late December, and neither could they get in touch with Liu or Xu.

Both Liu and Xu resigned in December. ICBC and Wenzhou Bank claimed there was nothing wrong with their work performance, and the two banks will "cooperate" with police to investigate the case.

Industry insiders have been debating if banks should be blamed and punished if employees obtain such loans. They have also called for stricter supervision of bank employees.