Sina Tech reported on the afternoon of October 6 that China Telecom Corporation Limited (ASX: 601728) has issued a statement in response to a former employee's real-name allegations against several senior executives, saying an internal special review was conducted in 2024 and that the claims are inconsistent with the facts.

Recently, a former employee of CHINA TELECOM (ASX: 00728) named Zheng publicly accused multiple senior executives of misconduct. According to the allegations disclosed by Zheng, he had participated in the "National Industrial Internet Big Data Center" project and claimed the project involved organized bid rigging and collusive bidding, forged contracts, and other issues, including the improper acquisition of 38 million yuan in fiscal funds.

The specific claims include: a core software development project was "completed" in 13 days but reported as 33,779 person-days of work; four wholly owned telecom subsidiaries engaged in internal bid rigging and collusive bidding, with a procurement budget of 35.0495 million yuan and a winning bid of 35.04 million yuan, a budget-to-award match rate of 99.97%; and 77 million yuan in self-raised supporting funds involved widespread falsification, including false contracts, inflated procurement, accounting adjustments, and fake expense claims, with senior executives fully aware of the situation.

In addition, the accounts allegedly involved improper diversion of funds, promotion of responsible persons despite known issues, and reciprocal personnel interest transfers between the government and enterprise business unit and the industrial internet institute.

In response, China Telecom's Key Account Business Unit issued a statement today saying that Zheng Jiyan was formerly an employee of the department and had been absent from work without justification for 635 days since 2023, despite repeated efforts to persuade him otherwise. In accordance with the Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China and company rules, his labor relationship was lawfully terminated on August 31, 2026.

"We have always strictly implemented rules and regulations in project cooperation. The project mentioned by Zheng Jiyan underwent an internal special review in 2024, and his statements are inconsistent with the facts," the statement said.