Vape Flavour Queen Under Investigation
It has been announced that Chinese vape flavour billionaire Chu Lam Yiu is being investigated as part of a corruption crackdown
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by Dave Cross
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Prior to the announcement, Chu Lam Yiu was acknowledged to be one of the most successful women in China, worth an estimated £5.6 billion. She holds a majority stake (70%) in Huabao International Holdings, a company that (among other things) produces tobacco and vape product flavourings. Shares in Huabao International Holdings crashed by 65% following the news, taking Chu Lam Yiu’s net worth to a mere £1.87 billion.
Chu Lam Yiu founded Huabao International Holdings in 1966, listing it on the stock market in 1976. A party loyalist, she is a member of the Fifth Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Committee (Shenzhen, Guangdong province).
Despite the tumble in her financial position, Chu Lam Yiu still ranks as the 99th richest person in China and the 831st richest billionaire globally.
The corruption investigation into Chu Lam Yiu has been called in order to explain “unspecified suspected disciplinary violations” and is being carried out by the Leiyang City Supervisory Committee.
Huabao International Holdings released a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange saying: “Up to the date of this announcement, the company has not been provided with any details of the nature of the suspected violations of Ms. Chu that is currently being investigated. The business operation of the Group remains normal.”
Huabao International Holdings was previously the victim of an attack by a subsect of the Anonymous hacker group, Anonymous Analytics - "enough guys with finance backgrounds to know what we are talking about."
Anonymous Analytics set its sights on the company in 2012 after it said Huabao International Holdings had overpaid Chu Lam Yiu for the acquisition of several of her other companies. Anon’s actions caused Huabao International Holdings to ask the Hong Kong stock exchange to suspend trading on its shares.
Financial experts are saying this emphasises the risk of individuals having a controlling shareholding and add that “at least” five other companies suffered badly when their executives vanished or were detained.
The company has yet to comment on what this means for the price of e-liquid flavourings or juices going forward.
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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