Detained investigator says mass bribery at GSK China ‘credible’

In April 2013, GSK hired Humphrey’s Chinese corporate investigations business, ChinaWhys, to investigate who is behind a suspected smear campaign against the company.

In July 2013, Humphrey and his wife Yu Yingzeng were arrested by Chinese police over charges that they had illegally bought and sold personal data of Chinese citizens.

In May 2014, Chinese authorities accused Mark Reilly, former head of GSK’s China business, and two other executives of bribing hospital officials thereby generating hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal revenues.

The investigation highlighted the widespread use of payments to doctors, hospital staff and government officials by sellers of drugs and medical equipment to increase sales of its products.

The company had also confirmed the existence of an intimate sex video recording of its former China head Reilly and his girlfriend.

GSK said in a statement that its China business is now subject to an ongoing investigation by the Chinese authorities with which it is fully cooperating.

The company has also hired an external law firm, Ropes and Gray, to conduct an independent review into what happened in its China business during this period.

"We have zero tolerance for any kind of corruption in our business and we have many policies, procedures and controls in place to monitor this and take action against any breaches," GSK added.

"As we have said previously, the allegations that have been raised are deeply concerning to us. We are learning lessons from this situation and we are determined to take all actions necessary as a result."

In January 2013, an anonymous whistleblower sent an email to GSK raising allegations against its China operation.