LONDON: A court in Hong Kong has ordered that assets held by former GOME Electrical Appliances Chairman Huang Guangyu be frozen, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

Huang is currently being investigated for alleged economic crimes. He and his wife were suspended from their executive duties at electronics retailer GOME last year. The asset freeze follows a request from the Hong Kong securities regulator in order to prevent Huang, his wife and two holding companies from disposing or trading in the company's shares, the paper reported the court as saying.

Huang owns 34 percent of GOME's shares after spending HK$549 million to increase his stake slightly last week.