Troubles at a once-highflying Chinese financial firm show there can be pitfalls as well as promise in private-equity investment in China.

Carlyle Group, Citigroup Inc., General Electric Co. and the Asian Development Bank in recent years invested a total of more than $100 million in Credit Orienwise Group Ltd., a privately run company with a nationwide presence and growing profits in a field dominated by state-run firms. Debt investors bought $100 million in bonds of its subsidiary, China Orienwise Ltd., underwritten by Morgan Stanley and traded in Singapore.

U.S. investors were drawn to the growth prospects and business model of Credit Orienwise. Founded in 1999, based in the southern China boomtown of Shenzhen, the company found a niche guaranteeing loans to fast-growing private Chinese companies and in other areas underserved by China's state-run banks. Profit last year was up 20% from 2006.

Credit Orienwise was founded by Zhang Kaiyong, the company's chairman, who is described by the Chinese wealth-tracking publication Hurun Report as among China's 400 richest people. His estimated personal wealth is at least $320 million, based on his stake in the company.

Now, auditors Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu question the company's ability to continue as a going concern, and Credit Orienwise has acknowledged allegations of fraud within the company. The company posted a loss for the first half of this year. Directors representing the foreign investors have resigned.

'I admit we have some problems, but those problems won't change our corporation fundamentally,' said Song Li, a spokeswoman for Credit Orienwise. Ms. Song said Mr. Zhang was traveling out of the country and couldn't be reached.

The U.S. firms and the ADB declined to comment on specifics. GE said it wouldn't comment 'since we are no longer on the board' of Credit Orienwise and its subsidiaries. The ADB said it remains a shareholder and treats allegations of fraud 'extremely seriously.'

Encouraged by winning bets in several Chinese start-ups, Western private-equity firms and hedge funds have pushed further into China's private sector as prospects for takeovers of state firms have dimmed after the government squashed some deals to quell rising nationalist sentiment.

But private-sector deals haven't proven to be the easy money some hoped for. Blue Ridge China Partners LP, Morgan Stanley Principal Investment, Merrill Lynch & Co. and Citadel Investment Group put a total of at least $120 million into another private Chinese company, start-up ITAT Group Ltd. The apparel retailer's planned $1 billion initial public offering of stock was shelved earlier this year amid allegations of improper accounting. The company's auditors are continuing to investigate those allegations.

The ADB four years ago agreed to pay about $10 million for a 5.8% stake in Credit Orienwise. A Citigroup-backed private-equity fund, Citigroup Venture Capital International, invested about $25 million in late 2005 for a 14.1% stake. Carlyle's Asia Growth Partners III fund acquired a 13% stake in March 2006 for about $25 million. GE Commercial Finance invested around $50 million in September 2007 for an 8% stake. Mr. Zhang's holding company owns almost 54%.

The first public hint of possible problems came this September. In a filing with the Singapore exchange, the company said its board had established a committee comprising directors representing the foreign investors to look into fraud allegations at the company. It also said the company had obtained a court injunction freezing the assets of the company's founder and chairman, Mr. Zhang, up to an undisclosed amount. The company didn't disclose further details and Mr. Zhang hasn't commented.

The four foreign directors resigned in October, according to a company statement to the Singapore exchange, dissolving the committee looking into the fraud allegations without issuing any findings. In the statement, the company said a general manager of one of its units was suspected of forging documents and illegally granting guarantees for a 'significant' amount of loans. It said the manager had resigned, his whereabouts were unknown and the case had been reported to the police but didn't disclose further details.

In the October statement, Credit Orienwise said these issues will have 'a serious impact on the company's financial position' and it will do its best to minimize the effects. It also said some banks had stopped accepting its loan guarantees, employees were leaving, and some borrowers have stopped repaying some of the loans it backed.

On Oct. 29, Credit Orienwise said it lost 1.2 billion yuan ($175.8 million) in the first six-months of this year. It also set aside 90 million yuan to cover potential losses related to the fraud allegations.

Deloitte said due to the fraud allegations and the other issues outlined by the company in its statements, it was unable to express an opinion whether the first-half results conformed with international accounting standards. 'These conditions cast significant doubt as to the Group's ability to continue as a going concern,' Deloitte said in its review of the first-half results released along with the results.

中国一家一度蒸蒸日上的金融服务公司日前陷入了麻烦，这显示中国的私人股权投资业务在前途广阔的同时也布满陷阱。

凯雷集团(Carlyle Group)、花旗集团(Citigroup Inc.)、通用电气( General Electric Co.)和亚洲开发银行(Asian Development Bank, 简称ADB)近年来在中国中科智担保集团股份有限公司(Credit Orienwise Group)合计投入了超过1亿美元的资金。在中国一向由国有企业主导的贷款担保领域，中科智以其私营企业性质而引人注目，它在中国各地均有业务且利润不俗。投资者还购买了其子公司中科智担保有限公司(China Orienwise Ltd.)的1亿美元债券，这批债券由摩根士丹利承销，在新加坡交易。

中科智集团的增长前景和业务模式吸引了美国投资者的目光。该公司于1999年在深圳成立，专门为快速增长的中国私有企业提供贷款担保，并在国内银行尚不重视的领域提供相关服务。去年，该集团利润较2006年增长了20%。

中科智集团创始人、董事长张锴雍入选了《胡润财富榜》中国富豪400强。按张锴雍所持该公司股份计算，他的个人资产至少有3.2亿美元。

不过，德勤(Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu)日前却对该公司持续经营的能力发出了质疑，这家公司也承认受到欺诈指控的事。该公司今年上半年的业绩出现亏损。代表外方投资者的董事已辞职。

中科智发言人宋丽（音）说，我承认我们有一些问题，但这些问题并未从根本上改变我们公司。她说，董事长张锴雍正在国外，没法联系。

上述几家美国机构和ADB均拒绝发表具体评论，通用电气说，它不会发表评论，因为它已不是中科智及其子公司的董事会成员。ADB则说，它仍是股东方，将以极其严肃的态度对待有关该公司的欺诈指控。

由于西方股权投资公司和对冲基金在中国几家初创企业的风险投资获得成功，而它们数宗涉及国有企业的股权交易又被中国政府出于平息国内民族主义情绪的考虑而否决，使其在国企领域一时难有作为，于是它们纷纷涉足中国的私企领域。

但事实证明，私人企业的交易并不像人们之前希望的那么容易。Blue Ridge China Partners LP、Morgan Stanley Principal Investment、美林(Merrill Lynch & Co.)和Citadel Investment Group曾向中国民营初创企业ITAT集团(ITAT Group)合计投资至少1.2亿美元，但由于被指在会计操作方面存在不当行为，今年早些时候，这家服装零售商的10亿美元募股上市计划被搁置。该公司的审计方目前仍在就此指控进行调查。

ADB 4年前同意出资1,000万美元收购中科智5.8%的股份。花旗旗下的Citigroup Venture Capital International也在2005年底出资2,500万美元收购了这家公司14.1%的股权。凯雷旗下基金Asia Growth Partners III在2006年3月斥资2,500万美元购得中科智13%的股份。通用金融(GE Commercial Finance) 2007年9月投资5,000万美元购得该公司8%股份。中科智其余接近54%的股份归张锴雍的控股公司所有。

今年9月，中科智首次公开暗示了“问题”征兆。在提交给新加坡交易所的文件中，该公司称其董事会成立了一个由代表外方投资者的董事组成的专门委员会，着手调查针对中科智的欺诈指控。它还说，公司已收到法庭强制令，要冻结公司创始人暨董事长张锴雍的资产，但未透露具体最高上限。该公司未透露更多细节，张锴雍也未发表评论。

据该公司提交给新加坡交易所的声明，其4位外方董事已于10月份辞职，由此，调查欺诈指控的委员会在未发表任何结果后也告解散。该公司在声明中说，其一家子公司的总经理被怀疑伪造文件，为一位被担保人的一笔“相当数额”的贷款非法提供担保。该公司称，这位经理已经辞职且下落不明，案子已报告警方，但没有更多细节。

中科智在10月份的声明中说，这些问题将“对公司的财务状况产生严重影响”，它将尽力将影响降到最低。它还说，一些银行已停止接受其贷款担保，公司员工纷纷离职，一些借款人开始停止偿还它所担保的部分贷款。

中科智10月29日说，公司今年前6个月亏损人民币12亿元。它还针对欠债指控的潜在损失拨出人民币9,000万元的准备金。

德勤说，由于欺诈指控和中科智在声明中提到的其他问题，德勤不能对中科智上半年业绩是否符合国际会计准则发表意见。德勤在与上半年业绩一起发表的评估报告中说，这些情况给该集团是否还有继续经营的能力划上了大大的问号。