McDonald's executive arrested in Hong Kong

HONG KONG -- The head of McDonald's Hong Kong branch has been arrested for allegedly accepting bribes from food suppliers in return for using their products, local newspapers reported Tuesday.

McDonald's Hong Kong declined to confirm the arrest of managing director Joseph Lau. It said in a statement Lau is on leave and wouldn't immediately say if Lau was suspended or had taken leave voluntarily.

Hong Kong's Ming Pao Daily News said anti-graft officials arrested Lau last week. Apple Daily said McDonald's suspended Lau pending the investigation.

Hong Kong's anti-graft agency, the Independent Commission Against Corruption, arrested 27 people for alleged bribery over food supplies to restaurants last week. It declined to say if Lau was among them.

Lau joined McDonald's in Los Angeles in 1983, according to the company Web site.

He was the managing director of McDonald's in the Philippines for three years before taking up the top post in Hong Kong in May 2004.

Lau also spent 10 years expanding McDonald's business on mainland China.

McDonald's, headquartered in Oak Brook, has more than 200 restaurants in Hong Kong that employ more than 10,000 people, according to its Web site.