Forgery charge for jet fuel boss

China Aviation Oil ran up trading losses of $550m under Mr Chen

Chen Jiulin, the suspended boss of crisis-hit jet fuel supplier China Aviation Oil (CAO), has been charged with insider trading.

The charges, which include making false statements, failing to disclose losses and forgery, come a day after Mr Chen and other executives were arrested.

CAO collapsed in December after running up losses of $550m (£248m) betting on the future price of oil.

The firm's creditors overwhelmingly approved a bailout on Wednesday.

The offer by CAO foresees it paying 54 cents in the dollar over five years.

'Failures at every level'

The trading scandal was the biggest to hit Singapore since the $1.2bn collapse of Barings Bank in 1995.

If anyone at any level had independently asked more questions, or delved a little deeper, or even sought to understand the position more fully, the situation might well have been averted PricewaterhouseCoopers The BBC's Malcolm Borthwick on the CAO scandal

CAO sought court protection from creditors late last year, after losing money betting heavily on a fall in the price of oil at a time when prices rose sharply.

The collapse, according to a report by auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers released early in June, was primarily Mr Chen's responsibility.

But it said "every level of the company" had shown problems.

The other executives arrested - CAO's head of finance, Peter Lim Tiong Sun, and directors Jia Changbin, Li Yongji and Gu Yanfei - have also been charged.

Mr Chen's bail has been set at 2m Singapore dollars (US$1.2m; £660,000).

The case is likely to be resolved within six months, our correspondent in Singapore says.

CAO is China's main supplier of jet fuel. Although Singapore-based, the firm is owned through a holding company by the Chinese government.