Hong Kong CNN —China has fined Mintz Group, an American corporate due diligence firm, about $1.5 million for allegedly conducting unapproved statistical work in the country, as it continues with a nationwide crackdown on consulting firms in the name of national security. The fine came to light months after authorities closed the firm’s Beijing office in March and detained five of its local employees. Mintz’s Beijing office had carried out “foreign-related statistical investigations” without seeking and obtaining approvals, which violated two Chinese regulations, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on its website dated July 14. The authorities imposed a fine totaling 10.69 million yuan ($1.49 million) on the company and ordered it to stop conducting such investigations in the country. Days after the raid occurred, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said Mintz was suspected of “illegal business operations.”Since then, Chinese regulators launched a broader crackdown on consulting firms.

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Persons: Mintz, Mintz didn’t, Capvision Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, China, Mintz Group, Beijing Municipal Bureau, Statistics, CNN, Wall Street, Bain & Company Locations: Hong Kong, American, Beijing, Shanghai, New York, United States, Washington, chipmaking, China