Crunch comes for those with underground loans

SHANGHAI - Wenzhou police announced on Tuesday that a shoe company owner killed himself after becoming steeped in financial troubles.

The police declined to name the man, who they said owned four shoe-manufacturing companies. In response to his death, rumors spread online saying that he had jumped from a building because he was having difficulty paying off about 400 million yuan ($62.5 million) he owed to underground banks, which operate in a gray area of the law.

In Wenzhou, many businesses have been starved of loans as the country tries to fight inflation by pulling back the reins on credit. Finding their usual source of cash no longer appealing, many have turned to underground banks.