Oil executive accused of absconding with clients' money

An executive of a state-owned oil company accused of absconding from Zhoukou City in central China's Henan Province with hundreds of millions of yuan paid by clients for orders has been caught by police.

Police confirmed on Friday that they apprehended Chen Yan, a client manager for China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), outside Henan on Thursday. She is under interrogation.

Police received reports that Chen had gone missing on Monday, when clients gathered in front of CNPC's Zhoukou branch, demanding the return of their money.

The clients said Monday was the deadline for their fuel to be delivered, but none of them had received it and they could not reach Chen.

Chen is a veteran CNPC employee and the company could find no indication of wrongdoing in her accounts, said Guo Xinping, deputy manager of the CNPC Zhoukou branch.

The clients said they remitted money to Chen's personal bank account, with some of them unaware that the bank details she had given them were for her personal account. Endi