The accused serves as a vice-president of Alibaba Pictures and general manager of the company’s online cinema ticketing service.
Another senior executive at Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s movie production arm has been detained under suspicion of corruption, according to multiple local media reports.
Kong Qi, a vice-president of Alibaba Pictures and general manager of Tao Piaopiao, the studio’s online ticketing portal was reportedly detained by police in July under suspicion for taking bribes amounting to at least RMB 10 million ($1.5 million).
Alibaba Pictures confirmed the report by Tencent Technology but said the incident occurred before Kong took up his position at the company and bore no connection with Alibaba Pictures. However, an Alibaba Group spokesperson declined further comment “as the case is under litigation.”
Kong was a high-level director in Alibaba’s Alipay mobile division in 2014, according to media reports. Alipay is Alibaba’s online third-party payment platform.
Kong’s last public appearance was reportedly in June 2016 when he attended an Alibaba Pictures press conference. It’s unclear when Kong moved over to Alibaba Pictures and Tao Piaopiao from Alipay
The apparent arrest comes one year after another senior executive at the company was detained on bribery charges. Police detained Patrick Liu Chunning in July 2015 for taking bribes during his time at rival Tencent Holdings Ltd. In January Alibaba Pictures removed Liu from its board of directors.
Liu was detained by police before he could attend a single Alibaba Pictures board meeting. He was dismissed after failing to attend those meetings and respond to communications from the company.
