The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued a China-based natural gas company over claims its chairman secretly used the firm’s money to make $14 million in loans to benefit his son’s real-estate business.
Qinan Ji, the former chief executive and current chairman of China Natural Gas Inc., arranged the two short-term loans, one through a sham borrower, in January 2010, the SEC said in a lawsuit filed today at U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Ji lied about the loans to the company’s board, investors and auditors, as well as during an internal investigation into the matter, the SEC said.
