The head of a Chinese firm that owns 36 schools and companies across the country has been detained after he failed to repay 2.2 billion yuan (around $350 million) in debt to about 1,000 private lenders.
Police in eastern Zhejiang province detained Dong Shunsheng, president of the Liren Education Group in Wenzhou city, Xinhua reported.
The firm had announced in October that it would stop repaying creditors after the company's cash chain ruptured.
The local government said it was still assessing the amount of loans and the number of creditors of the company.
The group, set up in 2003, has subsidiaries operating in several sectors including education, real estate and mining.