Four GSK China execs held for investigation in bribery scandal

Four senior executives from multinational pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) are being held by Chinese police on suspicion of having committed serious economic crimes, Xinhua has learned.

The executives of GSK (China) Investment Co., Ltd., identified by their Chinese names, include vice president and operation manager Liang Hong, vice president and human resources director Zhang Guowei, legal affairs director Zhao Hongyan, and business development manager Huang Hong, according to the investigation team.

The four were once dubbed the GSK China's "quadriga."

In an interview with Xinhua, Liang, who supervises about 3,000 medical representatives across China to deal with hospitals and doctors, admitted that he had been "in contact with" senior government officials and medical experts.

He said he was authorized to approve an annual budget up to hundreds of millions of yuan.

The Ministry of Public Security announced last week that some senior executives from GSK China were being investigated for suspected bribery and tax-related violations.

The suspects are believed to have offered large bribes to government officials, medical industry associations and foundations, hospitals and doctors in order to expand the company's market in China and raise the price of its medicine.

Most of the bribes are thought to have been given through travel agencies.

The police have also held and questioned the corporate representative of a travel agency suspected of being involved in the case, according to the investigation team.

GSK issued a statement regarding the ongoing investigation by Chinese authorities on its Chinese website Monday, saying it "shares the desire of the Chinese authorities to root out corruption."

"We will cooperate fully with the Chinese authorities in the investigation of these new allegations," it said.

The statement said GSK is "reviewing all third party agency relationships" and has "put an immediate stop on the use of travel agencies that have been identified so far in this investigation." It is also "conducting a thorough review of all historic transactions related to travel agency use.