U.S., British Corporate Investigators Charged In China

Two foreign investigators who often work for multinational corporations to investigate possible executive wrongdoing have been indicted by Chinese authorities for selling private information. The investigators, who run Shanghai firm ChinaWhys Ltd., were hired by GlaxoSmithKline to discover who leaked allegations that then-China manager Mark Reilly was bribing doctors and hospitals to use the company’s drugs. Reilly later said he found those allegations to be true and felt he had been used by Glaxo. The couple has been formally charged as part of an investigation into corruption in China’s medical industry. They are charged of illegally buying or otherwise illegally obtaining personal information about Chinese citizens and then selling that information to their multinational clients in China. The case marks the first time foreigners have faced such charges.