(Reuters) - Two former executives of a Chinese unit of Herbalife Nutrition Ltd <HLF.N> were criminally charged on Thursday over an alleged scheme to pay bribes and circumvent the company's internal accounting controls, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Yanliang Li, also known as Jerry Li, and Hongwei Yang, also known as Mary Yang, were each charged with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, an anti-bribery law. Li was also charged with perjury and destroying records. Both are at large.
The charges were announced by the U.S. Department of Justice. The person familiar with the matter confirmed that Li and Yang worked for Herbalife's Chinese unit. Herbalife did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chris Reese)
