Billionaire Xiao Jianhua was reportedly seized by Chinese police from his apartment in Hong Kong last week, but his whereabouts is a mystery after he reportedly denied the reports in social media posts.
A source close to Xiao said Tuesday that the successful businessman was taken into China and held in police custody, The New York Times reported.
Hong Kong police said Tuesday that “the subject” crossed the border and into China on Friday, according to the Times. A missing person’s report was filed on Saturday, but was lifted the next day after family members of the billionaire confirmed that he was safe.
Initially, Hong Kong police started an investigation into Xiao’s whereabouts, and there was suspicion that he had been taken by triad members, the South China Morning Post noted.
However, a government source refuted those claims, saying that surveillance footage showed the 45-year-old leaving the hotel with “an unidentified number of people,” but not triad members, according to the SCMP.
Another source said Xiao left Hong Kong and was headed for Shenzhen around 3 p.m. on Friday.
Hong Kong police said there were no signs of a struggle when they arrived at Xiao’s apartment.
Tomorrow Group, which was founded by Jianhua, issued two statements on Monday, which were later removed from the WeChat website, according to reports.
“I, Xiao Jianhua, am recuperating overseas now and all is good! Business is normal at Tomorrow Group!,” the first statement said, according to the South China Morning Post.
The second statement said Jianhua had not been captured, but instead would be appearing “very soon after the treatment.”
The source close to Xiao told the Times that those reports were untrue and meant to draw attention away from the story, which the Times noted had similarities to a 2015 incident involving five booksellers who were associated with a publisher of books on China's Communist leadership that are banned on the mainland.
Jianhua, who began his rise as a “bagman” in the business world, is now a billionaire ranked 32nd on the Hurun China rich list, as of 2016, according to Reuters.
Jianhua has a reported net worth of $5.97 billion.
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