An insurer based in China’s Shandong Province was slapped with fines totalling RMB1.12 million (US$165,900) for various violations, including snooping on the provincial government’s inspection team.
Authorities have discovered that officials of Yingda Taihe Property Insurance Company's Weifang branch placed a voice recorder pen and an iPhone 6S under a chair in a room where inspectors from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (
CIRC) were holding an inspection of the insurance company.
The CIRC ordered several inspections of company premises from December 2016 to January 2017, the Global Times reported. The officials involved in the recording incident were Lu Wentao, deputy general manager of the insurer; Han Tao, interim head of the general office; and two other staff members.
The inspectors found several other violations committed by the company, including possession of large amounts of unaccounted money, fabrication of commission charges, and reimbursement of illegitimate expenses.
According to a statement released by the CIRC, the incident was “extremely serious and has devastating consequences”.
For the violations, the company was fined RMB450,000 (US$66,600) plus another RMB450,000 for illegally recording the inspectors. On top of fines for all involved officials, Lu was dismissed from his job and the others were given warnings.
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