SHANGHAI, Nov. 20 -- Executives of the influential 21st Century Business Herald were arrested by the First Branch of the Shanghai People's Procuratorate on Thursday.

Those arrested included Shen Hao, president of the 21st Century Media Ltd., vice president Chen Dongyang, vice president and chief financial officer Le Bing.

The prosecutors accused the 21st Century Business Herald, the website affiliated to the publication, Money Week, and eight companies under the group, of blackmail and forcing transactions.

Shen was also accused of duty encroachment, embezzlement and taking bribes as a non-state staff.

Shen and Chen were taken away by the police in late September.

The police said the financial media outlet used negative news coverage to force enterprises to pay 'cooperation fees' and demanded hefty 'protection fees' reaching millions of yuan by promising not to publish negative reports. < The company partnered with some public relations firms in Shanghai and Shenzhen to release negative reports about listed companies and those planning initial public offerings (IPO).

"I knew that it was suspected of violations," Shen confessed.

Police found Shen set high performance targets for subsidiary publications and websites to conduct the violations. Shen also cooperated with the PR firms to delete negative reports about their major clients.

Shen and others forced nearly 100 companies to sign advertisement contracts, both directly or indirectly, with their subsidiary companies and publications. They are suspected of blackmailing more than 200 million yuan (32.7 million U.S. dollars).

Shen is also suspected of embezzling more than 1 million yuan by taking advantage of his post as publisher and president of the company. He was suspected of embezzlement using invoices of fabricated business spending.

According to the police, Shen has since undergone a period soul-searching after he was taken by the police for investigation on Sept. 25.

In a letter of remorse, Shen said "a strong feeling of being torn apart has long been making me suffer and even I cannot help bursting into tears."

"In retrospect of my past 40 years, I once had beautiful ideals and pursuits, and had obtained decent fame and social positions. But now, I lost my freedom..."

"An individual is but a tiny person, yet a media reporter carries sacred missions," he said of his early years as a journalist. At the time he said he was devoted to seeking justice, volunteered to promote compassion and valued conscience.

When he changed from a media reporter to a manager, he said he started to betray such beliefs.

As the publisher of the influential 21st Century Business Herald, Shen directed his company to use negative reports about listed companies and those planning initial public offerings (IPO) to threaten them.

"The development of Internet technologies has produced subversive impact on the 'ecology' of the media industry. I sensed a threat to traditional media and that has impacted my mentality," Shen wrote.

"In recent years, my annual earnings reached about two million yuan, far more than I need for sustenance. However, I failed to control my greed and resist temptations. The power I had has become the tool for me to seek personal benefits."

Police told Xinhua that Shen has used his company's fund to finance his family members' overseas trips and studies. Every time he mentioned his fellows and family in the interrogations, Shen bursts into tears and expresses his regrets.

"My experience should be taken as a lesson to warn my peers in the media industry," according to Shen.

"I also hope that there will be a great reform in the media industry to properly handle the relations between the media's social functions and their commercial businesses, so that the media could always be a beneficial part in the society."

"I believe that what I still have faith in would eventually lead me to atone my crimes and restore my beliefs as a beginner," Shen said.