Wang Zongnan stool trial in China on 12 December on charges of embezzling public funds and accepting bribes, according the Xinhua News Agency.
Prosecutors accused Wang of embezzling RMB190m (US$31m) between 2000 and 2006 when he was general manager of state-owned Shanghai Friendship Group and Lianhua Supermarkets, as well as accepting RMB2.69m (US$435,000) in bribes.
According to the state-run media, prosecutors have claimed that Wang's parents purchased two properties in Shanghai below market price from a subsidiary of a company that Wang did a favour for in 2000.
Wang was chairman of leading Chinese food corporation Bright Food from 2006 until 2013, during which time he aided the company’s acquisition of British Weetabix, Australian Manassen Foods, which owns Mildura Fruit Company, and New Zealand’s Synlait Milk. Bright Food has not been implicated in the investigation.
The allegations against Wang are the latest in China's on-going anti-corruption campaign lead by president Xi Jinping since taking office in 2012.
