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Shares of China Aircraft Leasing Group Holding Ltd, the largest independent aircraft operating lessor in China, are expected to come under further pressure this week after the company said it was unable to contact its chief executive, who resigned without explanation.

Reuters reports a nearly-20% plunge in the company's shares on Friday which highlighted the risks in a country where corporate leaders can vanish without a trace, leaving shareholders in the lurch. The drop also comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of Hong Kong-listed firms' corporate governance.

Friday's fall, which wiped HK$1.36 billion ($175 million) off the company's market capitalization, came after it said it had been unable to contact chief executive Poon Ho Man (pictured) who had resigned on Wednesday. Shares were suspended from trading on Thursday.

"There will still be very heavy selling pressure as the situation remains unclear, especially the reason why the CEO quit," said Sammy Lo of brokerage First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong.

Calls over the weekend to China Aircraft Leasing's Hong Kong headquarters and Shanghai and Beijing offices were apparently not answered.

The South China Morning Post on Saturday quoted people it said were familiar with China Aircraft Leasing as saying Poon disappeared more than a month ago amid speculation he was embroiled in a corruption probe into one of the company's customers.

In a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday, the company said Poon had resigned on June 17 with immediate effect and had provided no explanation. The company said he had been on leave from May 18 and was due to return on June 26.

Chief financial officer Yu Tai Tei also resigned on May 22, with effect from June 18, "to pursue other personal goals", the company said on Friday.

The group appointed chairman Chen Shuang as Poon's replacement. It appointed Mok Chung Tat, who joined the company this month, as chief financial officer.

China Aircraft Leasing said it was aware of media reports alleging Poon may be involved in certain investigations by Chinese authorities relating to China Southern Airlines , one of its customers.

It added in the Friday statement that it has not received notice that Poon "is under any kind of investigation" in China and that it had not been contacted by the Chinese government about any probe.

In January, China Southern said four executives, including chief financial officer Xu Jiebo, had come under investigation for job-related crimes, a term often used as a euphemism for corruption.

In its Friday statement to the stock exchange, China Aircraft Leasing said it had reviewed records of its interactions with China Southern and "it has not found any irregularities" in those dealings.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been conducting an anti-corruption drive that has ensared officials as well as businessmen, including a mining tycoon, Liu Han of Hanlong Group, who was executed in February.

China Aircraft Leasing Group is partly owned by a subsidiary of state-backed financial conglomerate China Everbright Group.

Earlier this month the company delivered a new A320-200 aircraft to Sichuan Airlines, at the facilities of Airbus in Tianjin, China. The delivery also marks the company’s milestone of expanding its fleet size to 50 aircraft – all under operating lease.

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