Beijing police open criminal probe into CreditEase; founder Tang Ning under criminal measures

Full report

According to the police notice, the Chaoyang branch recently opened a criminal case against CreditEase-linked companies for suspected illegal activities, and imposed criminal compulsory measures on the actual controllers Tang (male, 53) and Zhao (female, 51) along with several other suspects. Police asked investors to register claims through three channels — online, by mail, or in person at economic-crime units — and warned against fraudsters promising early redemption.

Background

On the evening of Oct. 11, CreditEase sent a targeted apology letter to holders of its quasi-fixed-income products via the Ruicheng and Yiren Youxuan apps, admitting a substantive default, possible insolvency and a large funding gap. Redemptions on such products have been frozen since May 22, with media reports putting the amount involved at about 30 billion yuan and nearly 100,000 high-net-worth clients affected.

Founded by Tang Ning in Beijing in 2006, CreditEase was once one of China's largest P2P lending groups; its subsidiary Yirendai was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. After China's P2P sector was overhauled, the group moved into wealth management, insurance and fintech investments, including funds that invested in crypto projects such as Circle. Police said they will pursue asset recovery to minimize investor losses.