China reportedly detains magnate eyed in Waldorf Astoria purchase
The head of the powerhouse Chinese insurance company that owns the Waldorf Astoria has been taken into custody amid a financial misconduct investâigation, according to several reports.
Chinese officials detained Anbang Insurance Co. chairman Wu Xiaohui on Friday, accorđding to a Monday report from magazine Caijing that has since bđeen deleted from the magazineâs website.
Company officials confiđrmed late Tuesday that Wu has turned all his responsibilities over to colleagues but did not elaborate on who detained him or where.
Wu is “temporarily unable to perform his duties due to personal reasons,” said a one-sentence statement
đŹŕźthat Chinese officials took Wu into custody last week.
Anbang has been under scrutiny since a multibillion-dolđ lar global string of real-estate purchases, including buying the Waldorf for $2 billion in 2014, raised questions about how it was paying for its buying spree. It was the highest price ever paid for a hotel at the time.
In March, the company backed out of a plan to help finance the $7.5 billion redevelopment of 666 Fifth Avenue, which is owned by thđ ˇe family of President Trumpâs son-in-law Jâared Kushner.
Anbang has a reputation for unusually aggressive expansion in a Chinese insurance industry dominated by state-owned companies, and it was ordered in May to stop sellâing two financial products thađ t regulators said violated industry rules.
With Post wires