The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) yesterday announced the dismissal of a number of senior officials and employees in the wake of a 51-million-yuan (US$6.6 million) theft from a branch in north China.

It is one of the country's biggest cash thefts on record.

The bank demanded the resignation of Qu Jianyao, president of the ABC's Hebei Province branch. Deng Zhenguo, a vice president of the branch in charge of accounting, and Xu Yuesheng, in charge of security at the branch, had already been fired. All the employees in the cash-management center at the branch in Handan, a city in Hebei, where the massive theft occurred, have been suspended during the investigation.

The sacked also include the president of the Handan branch, two of its vice presidents in charge of accounting and security, and the director and vice directors of the cash center.

Han Zhongqi, the ABC's vice president, said headquarters will mete out more punishment to those responsible when public security authorities finalize the investigation.

Han said the main suspects were the bank's employees, proving that loopholes lie in the management. The Handan branch signed a contract with a security company, which took charge of safeguarding the vault and cash transport. The introduction of the service lowered the branch's vigilance.

Police last week arrested two suspects -- Ren Xiaofeng, 34, and Ma Xiangjing, 37 -- for the theft from the vault, which was discovered on April 14.

The duo, who worked for the cash center, has confessed to the crime.

They said they stole the money from the vault several times from last month and spent most in buying lottery tickets in the hope of making a fortune and then returning the money.

Afraid of being detected by the police, they decided to commit the last theft on April 14 and fled. The Ministry of Public Security last week put them on its most-wanted list, with a 200,000-yuan (US$25,881.6)?reward.

Three people will share the reward for Ren's arrest.

(Shanghai Daily April 24, 2007)