Confirmation comes from Beijing on Monday after reports circulated during the past week that she has been banned from leaving. The bank has confirmed that they are assisting Mao, who traveled to China sometime during the past weeks. She lives in American Atlanta and was born in Chinese Shanghai.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun says that Mao was "involved in a criminal case that is currently being investigated by the Chinese authorities", without giving any further details about what it concerns. He emphasizes that it is a "private case".
Wells Fargo has not commented on the case but no longer allows its employees to visit China.
According to sources for The Washington Post, a Chinese-American employee at the US Department of Commerce has also been prevented from leaving China after he was unable to show that he works for the American state.
