SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The former head of a local lender in China's northern region of Inner Mongolia will be prosecuted for suspected corruption, bribery and embezzlement, the state prosecutor said on Wednesday (Sept 30), the latest in a series of bankers to be targeted for graft.

Mr Yang Chenglin, former board chairman of the Bank of Inner Mongolia, defrauded the bank and sought personal profits by embezzling large sums of money from the bank, the prosecutor said.

Calls and a fax to the bank's board secretary were not answered. It was also not possible to reach Yang for comment.

Bank of Inner Mongolia, based in regional capital Hohhot, was set up in 1999 and was renamed in 2009 from Hohhot City Commercial Bank. The bank now has 106 branches, including three in Shanghai and Beijing, according to its website.

Earlier in September, the ruling Communist Party's anti-graft watchdog said it was investigating the head of the Bank of Dalian Co., another small regional lender.

President Xi Jinping's push to counter graft and extravagance has ensnared a series of senior bankers, with the 2013 investigation into the former vice president of Agricultural Bank of China Ltd being one of the most high-profile.