Ultrasonic CEO to return

A Chinese executive who went missing last week with most of his company's cash reserves resurfaced on Monday, denying reports that he had absconded with millions of dollars of company money.

Qingyong Wu, the chief executive officer of the Chinese shoemaker Ultrasonic, which is listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange, told the Chinese news outlet Sina that he had merely been abroad for a vacation and a medical check.

"Rumors say that I took more than a billion yuan. This is pure rumor. No such thing has happened," Sina quoted Wu as saying. "The company's financial situation remains unchanged."

Curiously, earlier in the day on Monday, Ultrasonic issued a press release stating that its missing CEO had contacted the company and wished to return the money he took.

"He is preparing his reemergence at the company and would restore all funds, Ultrasonic said in a statement.

But it added that it had not yet physically seen Wu or his son, Chief Operating Officer Minghong Wu, who also disappeared.

"An attempt for personal contact by a representative of the supervisory board in Xiamen, however, has thus far been unsuccessful," it said.

Wu reportedly contacted the firm's chief financial officer, Clifford Chan, who was in talks last week with Japanese lender Nomura about a $60 million (46.7 million euros) loan that it had called in upon hearing about the disappearances.

On the news that the Wu duo was planning to give back the money - and thus help the company avoid insolvency once the Nomura loan is due - stocks in the company doubled in value.

The Ultrasonic case was the third time executives of foreign-listed Chinese firms have mysteriously disappeared with their companies' fortunes. Together they have shaken investor confidence in the corporate governance of such entities.

cjc/uhe (Reuters, dpa)