China cracks down on 380 online lenders, freezes $1.5B

China’s policy ministry says it investigated 380 online lenders and froze $1.5 billion in assets in a crackdown following an avalanche of scandals in the huge but lightly regulated industry. The ministry said on Monday that it launched the investigation in June last year because the industry was increasingly risky and rife with complaints about fraud, mismanagement and waste. The police ministry said more than 100 executives were being sought by investigators and some had fled abroad. The operator of one lender was sentenced to life in prison in 2017 on charges he defrauded investors of $7.7 billion.