A young billionairess who has been detained on charges of illegal fundraising in east China's booming Zhejiang Province pooled much more money than earlier guesses made by the media, police investigation showed.

 

Wu Ying, 27, former head of the Bense Holding Group, allegedly collected funds of 1.4 billion yuan (192.8 million US dollars) illegally by promising high returns to her 148 creditors from November 2005 to January 2007, according to the Zhejiang Provincial Public Security Department.

 

She had promised investors lucrative returns ranging from three to 10 percent per month, and attracted many investors to channel funds into her company.

 

Local police have declined to reveal the exact amount of money Wu had amassed since she was detained in February last year, and they only said the amount could be "formidable."

 

Chinese media had put the figure at 600 million to 800 million yuan (82.6 million to 110.2 million US dollars).

 

Wu's case was listed as the No 2 economic crime last year in Zhejiang in terms of the amount of money involved, according to local police.

 

Zhejiang police dealt with 3,736 economic crime cases last year and captured 3,528 suspects, retrieving 1.175 billion yuan (161.8 million US dollars), the public security department said in a statement.

 

The statement did not provide further details about Wu's case.

 

Wu, born to a farming family in Dongyang City in Zhejiang, started her business career in beauty parlors in 1998.

 

She made a high-profile investment of about 300 million yuan (41.3 million US dollars) to establish 15 companies within three months from Aug. 10 to Oct. 12 in 2006.

 

Her businesses included a mall, a car service shop, building material stores, hotels and coffee shops, according to the local industrial and commercial bureau.

 

Local police earlier said she could face 10 years in prison if convicted.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2008)