China’s central bank is investigating a report by state television that a major Chinese bank is helping clients transfer large amounts of money overseas, including to Australia, in a program that violates currency controls, state news agency Xinhua says.

China Central Television caused a scandal when it broadcast a program last Wednesday accusing the Bank of China of money laundering on a large scale.

‘‘We have noticed the media report about a commercial bank’s cross-border renminbi [or yuan] business, and are verifying related facts,’’ Xinhua quoted a spokesman for the central bank, the People’s Bank of China, as saying.

In recent years there had been rapid growth in cross-border yuan business in response to global market developments, the spokesman said.

“Reports of ‘underground money farms’ and ‘money laundering’ have no basis in fact,” the Bank of China said in a statement on Wednesday that was amended shortly after publication to remove the name of the TV broadcaster and other details.

It was not clear why the Bank of China made the changes, nor why Xinhua’s article, dated Thursday, was not published until early Friday morning. Also, the central bank’s statement was issued in English, indicating it was aimed at a global audience.

The Bank of China said its Youhuitong service, which began in 2011 and means preferential remittances, was experimental but legal.

Under government regulations a Chinese citizen can send only about $50,000 a year out of the mainland. But on Friday, reports swirled about how much money was being funnelled out using the Youhuitong service – which CCTV said the bank was operating secretly – with estimates at 10billion yuan ($1.73billion) and even 20billion yuan.

Writing on the finance website Yicai, Li Youhuan – whose Weibo account identified him as an economics professor in Guangdong province and the head of the magazine Enterprise Social Responsibility – said the sums involved were “gigantic”. Exposing them would shame the nation, he wrote.

“It’s better that people do not know. Most banks have such business, and BoC is absolutely not the only one,” Professor Li said, referring to the Bank of China.

The handling of money is a hot-button issue in China, with officials detained seemingly daily as an anti-graft campaign championed by President Xi Jinping has deepened.

A recent investigation in Guangdong  into “naked officials” – those who send their families abroad to live and study while they stay behind to continue in their posts – resulted in hundreds of officials being identified or punished,  state media reported. There is widespread suspicion among the public about the source of those officials’ wealth, its manner of transfer and the officials’ patriotism.

In June the Communist Party secretary of Guangzhou, the provincial capital, was arrested on suspicion of corruption, creating a political earthquake. On Friday, a deputy mayor of the city was arrested and purged from the party on accusations that included abuse of power and corruption.

Mr Xi has said he will pursue both “tigers” and “flies” – corrupt officials both high and low – to achieve clean government.