Top Trafigura executive arrested in Beijing

A probe into fraudulent gasoline trading has led to the arrest of the Amsterdam-based Trafigura Beheer BV's top executive, Li Bo, in the Beijing airport.

Sources say that Li Bo, a Singaporean citizen who heads Trafigura’s representative office in the Chinese capital, was arrested at Beijing airport on the evening of 1 June, as he was was preparing to depart on a business trip to Singapore. He has not been charged.

The arrest marks an escalation of a commercial dispute between Trafigura, the world's third-biggest oil trader, and a number of Chinese companies over allegedly fraudulent gasoline trading, involving some $32 million.

Last year, a member of Trafigura's oil-marketing team was arrested and held without charge for suspected involvement in the case. An employee of Qingdao United Evergy, a local trading company, was also arrested.

A spokesperson for Trafigura in Geneva declined to comment, as did officials at the Cangzhou public security bureau’s propaganda office.

Trafigura has been a player in a prominent and ongoing case of bribery in Malta, involving pardoned oil trader George Farrugia and local energy provider Enemalta.