Hong Kong - Police in Hong Kong said Saturday they were investigating directors of a high-profile company for alleged fraud after a raid by commercial crime squad officers.

The offices of Citic Pacific, the Hong Kong-listed arm of China's biggest conglomerate, was raided Friday evening and searched for evidence of alleged fraud and false financial statements.

The company is accused of failing to disclose massive losses sustained through bets against foreign currency fluctuations in 2008.

Citic Pacific lost an estimated 1.8 billion US dollars by making unauthorized bets on currencies including the Australian dollar, only to see them plunge in value as the US dollar strengthened.

The company is accused of waiting six weeks before reporting the losses incurred in September 2008 to the market, finally sending the company's share price into free-fall.

Citic Pacific, whose chairman Larry Yung has strong political ties to China, confirmed in a statement that it had been raided by police.

"The warrant related to an investigation of alleged offences of false statements by company directors and/or conspiracy to defraud under the common law," the statement said.

No arrests have been made in the case yet.

Officers removed boxes of documents but no arrests were made.

Trading in Citic Pacific shares was suspended on Friday morning and is expected to resume on Monday, the company said in its statement. dpa