ZHENGZHOU - A man in central China's Henan Province was disqualified as an Olympic torch bearer on charge of illegally raising capital of 610 million yuan (about 87 million U.S. dollars), the local public security authority confirmed on Wednesday.
Wu Zhenhai, former board chairman of Henan Weilai Agriculture Co., Ltd., was approved to be one of the province's 56 Olympic torch bearers in August last year.
The provincial organizing committee for the Olympic torch relay disqualified Wu as a torch bearer on June 29 after receiving a police report.
Wu's company was established in 2004 in Shangqiu City. Under the pretence of agricultural technology development, he allegedly raised funds from the public illegally. The scam embroiled more than 7,400 people and 1,501 of them had been registered at police stations.
Police has detained 26 executives of the company, including Wu. Their bank accounts have been frozen.
The scam is under investigation.
The Olympic flame is scheduled to be relayed in Henan's Shangqiu on July 26.
