Man Hedge Fund Group Chairperson Li Yifei has on Monday denied media reports that she was taken into police custody to be quesitoned over the tumbling prices in the Chinese stock exchange. She claims that she has been attending business meetings and took some time off during the previous week.

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Last week, reports surfaced that Li was invited by the police to provide some insight into the recent stock market crash that caused the loss of nearly $5 trillion (over 31 trillion yuan). Chinese stock regulators have launched a crackdown against individuals and firms engaging in the manipulation of Chinese stock prices. Even the short selling of stocks has been severely limited in order to arrest the decline of Chinese share prices.

In a telephone interview, Li insisted that the she did not do anything wrong and was surprised by the press claims that she was supposedly invited by the police in connection with Chinese stock market crisis. Stock prices of Man Group fell as result of the press reports that its chairperson was under police custody.

Li would not give specific details about the meetings she attended or the vacation she took. Her Wiebo post on September 6 mentioned that she witnessed last Thursday's military parade and mentioned something about Beijing's climate during the weekend.

On September 1, Li met with stock regulators, but the meeting took place in Beijing hotel and the topic was nothing out of the ordinary, according to Wang Chaoyang, Li's spouse.

The ongoing investigation by Chinese stock regulators has made many large investors and fund managers nervous. Many of them have expressed their uneasiness whenever they are approached by the authorities and questioned with regards to their trading activities.

Beijing hopes that the investigation and crackdown against stock manipulators will revive investor confidence and trust in the Chinese stock market.

However, industry experts say that the government's tactic may have backfire as investors are being asked by regulators about how they buy and sell Chinese stocks. Investors are wary that such information may be used by the government to charge them with stock price manipulation.

TagsMan Group, Chinese hedge fund, Li Yifei, Wang Chaoyang, Man Group chairperson, Chinese Stock Market, hangseng stock index, chinese share prices, Chinese stock exchange, chinese stock plunge