Rio Tinto Accused Of Massive Fraud And Espionage In China

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Shares of iron ore miner Rio Tinto slipped after a report came out accusing the company of espionage and a $100 billion swindle.

Recall that a Chinese firm tried to buy a stake in the miner but was rebuffed, and ever since then the firm has seen all kinds of headaches in the country -- though of course China denies that the sequence of events is anything but coincidental.

Telegraph UK: An article published on a website controlled by the Chinese State Secrets Bureau also claimed that large amounts of “intelligence and data” had been found on Rio's computers following the arrest of four Rio executives on spying charges last month.

The report on baomi.org, a publishing affiliate of China’s national secrets watchdog, accused Rio of “winning over and buying off, prying out intelligence... and gaining things by deceit” during critical annual negotiations over iron ore prices.

Meanwhile, the author of the report denies that this is an official government announcement:

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