A regular, annual check on the Agricultural Bank of China, one of the country's "big four" state banks, has brought to light irregularities involving 51.6 billion yuan (US$6.45 billion) in its business for 2004, the National Audit Office announced Monday.

According to the latest audit report, "irregular operations" were cited as a "prominent problem" within the bank.

Irregularities in deposit business involved 14.27 billion yuan, another 27.62 billion yuan in the granting of loans while fraudulent bill issuance involved 9.72 billion yuan, the report stated.

Auditors are suspicious of 157 people who may have been involved in economic crimes in 57 fraud cases involving 8.68 billion yuan. Some of these crimes are thought to be conspiracies involving bank employees and outsiders, the report states.

Auditors launched the checks into 21 local branches of the Agricultural Bank in 2005 in cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2006)