SHANGHAI, July 28  -- Shanghai prosecutors on Monday launched an investigation into a senior business executive who headed several major city companies.

Wang Zongnan is suspected of taking bribes and embezzling public funds when serving as general manager in Shanghai Friendship Group and Lianhua Supermarket, according to the Shanghai People's Procuratorate.

Wang had also been the chairman of Bright Food, one of China's biggest food corporations, and the president of Bailian Group, a major retailing company.