Wahaha's chairman investigated for tax evasion

2008年04月27日 浙江在线新闻网站

THE tax authority in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, has started probing the chairman of Chinese beverage giant Wahaha Group on tax evasion allegations after they received a report accusing Zong Qinghou of not paying nearly 300 million yuan (US$42.86 million) in income tax.

The allegations were filed in August and accused Zong of hiding "a huge income both at home and overseas," and not honestly reporting his income tax, China Business News cited Caijing Magazine as saying today.

It did not reveal who was behind the allegations.

The French food and dairy maker Danone, which has a joint venture with Wahaha, paid a total salary of US$71 million to Zong in the name of service fees and share dividends between 1996 and 2006, Caijing said, citing bank accounts between Danone and Zong.

The money was delivered to the Hong Kong-registered accounts of Zong, his wife Shi Youzhen, his daughter Zong Fuli and the Party secretary of Wahaha, Du Jianying, at Zong Qinghou's request, the magazine said.

The State Administration of Taxation demanded the Hangzhou Local Tax Bureau to look into the report and set up a case on Zong in November, the report said.

The case takes place as Zong's Hangzhou-based Wahaha, China's biggest beverage maker, is locked in a legal fight with Danone.

Danone, which owns a 51-percent stake in 39 Danone-Wahaha joint ventures, accused Wahaha of setting up independent companies and selling products identical to those sold by the joint venture. Danone had demanded a 51-percent stake in the non-joint venture companies, which Wahaha rejected.

来源： Shanghai Daily 作者： Lydia Chen 编辑： 侯玮