Two Accounting Scandals in a Week Burn China Inc. Investors (1)

China’s second accounting scandal in less than a week is underscoring concern over lax corporate governance at some of the country’s fastest-growing companies.

TAL Education Group, a tutoring business whose success turned founder Zhang Bangxin into one of China’s richest people, delivered the latest bombshell on Tuesday after saying a routine internal audit found an employee had inflated sales by forging contracts. The company’s American depositary receipts sank as much as 18% in late U.S. trading.

People wearing protective masks gather outside a Luckin Coffee outlet in Shanghai, China on April 3.

Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

The sell-off follows the 83% slump in Nasdaq-listed Luckin Coffee Inc. since the company announced that its chief operating officer and some ...