An executive at WPP's media agency GroupM and two former employees have reportedly been detained in China as part of an alleged bribery investigation.
Several international news outlets reported the detentions and a raid on GroupM offices in Shanghai.
China is an important, and growing, market for WPP, recently recovering from a trough to post growth of 4.8% in the September quarter..
Reuters reported, quoting two people with knowledge of the matter, that one current employee and two former staff were detained.
A fourth, GroupM China’s country managing director for WPP China, Patrick Xu, was questioned.
The Financial Times quoted a statement from the Shanghai Public Security Bureau’s Economic Crime Investigation Department.
The bureau said it had “cracked” a commercial bribery case involving an advertising company, but did not name the agency.
"The detained trio 'took advantage of their positions to accept huge bribes' between 2019 and February this year," the Financial Times reported.
WPP and GroupM have been contacted for comment.
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