Zhou Yiming, CEO of Sichuan Mingxing Electric Power, denied that he had been taken into custody and his company taken over by the local government, Chengdu Economic Daily reports. The Chongqing Economic Times had reported that on 17 November, Zhou had been detained under suspicion of loan fraud and misuse of company funds, and that control of the company had been given over to the government of Suining City. On the day of the report, Mingxing's share price dropped 8%. Zhou, who was listed as one of China's richest people in 2003, denied the allegations, and said that he was consulted by the police on unrelated matters. Zhou's Minglun Group acquired 28.14% of Mingxing's state shares to become its largest shareholder in 2003, but soon after began to use the assets of the listed company for its own purposes. Mingxing froze 74 million shares held by Minglun on 16 November, and on 1 December, it announced that Zhou was being temporarily replaced as CEO since he was occupied with matters concerning Minglun. On Monday, Mingxing issued a statement confirming that Zhou was working to resolve Minglun's debts and obligations, that the company was operating normally and actively pursing the return of assets, that the Suining city goverment had not intervened, and that the company had not instituted a policy preventing mid-level managers from leaving Suining. Mingxing Electric Power: 600101.SH Link: http://news.hexun.com/detail.aspx?lm=1720&id=1435688