Guo Guangchang, the chairman and main shareholder of the Chinese company Fosun has been arrested on charges of corruption. In Portugal, Fosun owns the major insurance company Fidelidade and the Luz Saude health group.
The company also was a contender for the purchase of Novo Banco, the sale of which was pulled earlier this year by the Bank of Portugal as the current market price was several billion euros below the figure needed.
Fosun's owner has been detained by police in connection with an investigation related to allegations of corruption and the manipulation of stocks.
Trading in Fosun shares has been suspended on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
The 48-year-old businessman, often described rather incongrously as 'China’s Warren Buffet', founded the Fosun Group in 1992.
The Group currently controls companies in the pharmaceutical, real estate, retail, steel, mining, and insurance sectors including Fidelity insurance and Luz Saude which he bought when the Espírito Santo Group collapsed.
In the Forbes list of China's richest men, Guo Guangchang appears in 11th place, with a net worth the equivaklent to €5.3 billion.
Guo Guangchang’s name has been cropping up in China’s anti-corruption campaign which has been running for the last two years. In August this year he was linked to a corruption case involving Fosun and the former director general of the Shanghai Friendship Group.
Guo Guangchang later popped up in New York where the company explained he had travelled on a real estate deal.
