Huang Guangyu, founder of China's biggest electrical appliance chain Gome and the mainland's richest man, is suspected of manipulating share trading in two listed companies, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said on Friday.

The Beijing Pengrun Investment Co., which Huang owns, is suspected of "severely violating laws and regulations" for stock market manipulation of Sanlian Commercial Co. and Beijing Centergate Technologies Co., a CSRC official, who only identified himself as Liu, told reporters.

The amount involved is "huge" and the CSRC would hand all the evidence to the police, Liu said without elaborating.

News of Huang's detention first emerged on Monday, with Beijing-based Caijing magazine reporting on its website that Huang may have manipulated shares in Shandong Jintai Group Co., a Chinese drug manufacturer controlled by his brother, Huang Junqin. However, Liu shied away all questions on such reports.

The Beijing police on Thursday confirmed that Huang is under investigation for involvement in "economic crimes".

His company, the Hong Kong-listed Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings Ltd. has suspended trading since Monday.

Huang, 39, whose personal wealth is estimated at 43 billion yuan (more than 6 billion U.S. dollars), is the richest man on the mainland, according to the 2008 Hurun Rich list.

Found in 1986, Gome has become the country's biggest electrical appliance chain. It has 1,300 outlets in more than 300 Chinese cities with 300,000 employees.

(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2008)