After more than 20 years, the largest bank fund theft case after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Kaiping Branch of the Bank of China, has finally settled.
All three main culprits were arrested
On December 13, 2023, the Intermediate People's Court of Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province, publicly pronounced a verdict on the corruption and embezzlement of public funds case of Xu Guojun, former president of the Kaiping Branch of the Bank of China, and decided to sentence the defendant Xu Guojun to life imprisonment, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property for the crimes of embezzlement and embezzlement of public funds, and to recover the proceeds of crime and its fruits. Xu Guojun said that he would obey the court's judgment and would not appeal.
Xu Guojun absconded in 2001, was issued an international red notice by Interpol in 2002, and was forcibly repatriated from the United States in 2021.
After trial, it was ascertained that from 1993 to 2001, the defendant Xu Guojun took advantage of his position as the director, vice president, and president of the Kaiping Branch of the Bank of China, and conspired with Xu Chaofan, Yu Zhendong, and others to embezzle more than 62,217,300 US dollars, more than 363 million Hong Kong dollars, and more than 1,461,000 German marks, equivalent to more than 900 million yuan, and embezzled more than 355 million yuan of public funds. HK$20 million and US$126 million, equivalent to more than RMB1.4 billion.
The Jiangmen City Intermediate People's Court held that the defendant Xu Guojun's conduct constituted the crimes of embezzlement and embezzlement of public funds, and that the amount of embezzlement was particularly huge, and that the interests of the state and the people suffered particularly heavy losses, and that the amount of embezzled public funds was huge. In view of the fact that Xu Guojun truthfully confessed his crime after being brought to trial, pleaded guilty and repented, and could be given a lighter punishment in accordance with the law, the court made the above judgment.
Previously, in January 2019, CCTV broadcast the "Red Notice" news feature film. According to the feature film, in October 2001, the Kaiping Branch of the Bank of China that shocked the whole country was discovered. Xu Chaofan, former president of the Guangdong Kaiping branch of the Bank of China, together with Yu Zhendong and Xu Guojun, the two successive presidents, were suspected of colluding with corruption and misappropriating about $485 million of Bank of China's funds.
The feature film revealed that fleeing to the United States was a back road that they had carefully paved a long time ago, and before that, they had transferred their wives and children to the United States through fake divorce and other means.
As soon as the three arrived in the United States, Xu Chaofan and others immediately went to Las Vegas to gamble. Previously, they also transferred huge amounts of money to multiple accounts in the United States, Canada, and Hong Kong, China, and some of them were stored in casino VIP accounts, which could not be withdrawn and could only be withdrawn through gambling money, with the aim of laundering black money. However, they soon found out that it didn't take long for all the money in the casino, as well as in other accounts, to be frozen. According to reports, at that time, the Chinese side requested assistance from the United States in accordance with the Sino-US agreement on judicial assistance in criminal matters, which came into effect in March 2001, and the relevant accounts of Xu Chaofan and others were quickly frozen.
Yu Zhendong and Xu Chaofan were repatriated to China in 2004 and 2018 respectively, and the case-handling authorities and the Bank of China have recovered more than 2 billion yuan of stolen money from inside and outside the country.
In November 2021, Xu Guojun, who had been on the run for 20 years, was forcibly repatriated. So far, all three main culprits in the case have been arrested.
Sentencing for crimes varies
It is reported that Xu Chaofan, Yu Zhendong, and Xu Guojun were the three presidents of the Kaiping Bank of China, and they all participated in the crimes of embezzlement and embezzlement of public funds, but the sentencing of the three was different.
Xu Guojun was sentenced to life imprisonment, deprivation of political rights for life, confiscation of all personal property, and recovery of the proceeds of crime and the fruits thereof.
Xu Guojun (Defendant)
On 31 March 2006, the Jiangmen Intermediate People's Court sentenced Yu Zhendong to 12 years' imprisonment and confiscated 1 million yuan of personal property on charges of embezzlement and embezzlement.
On October 13, 2021, the Jiangmen Intermediate People's Court sentenced Xu Chaofan to 13 years in prison and a fine of RMB 2 million on charges of embezzlement and embezzlement.
According to the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law of the mainland and the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate's "Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Determination of Sentencing Circumstances such as Voluntary Surrender and Meritorious Service in Handling Cases of Crimes Abusing Public Office", criminals who voluntarily surrender after committing a crime and truthfully confess their crimes may be given a lighter or commuted punishment.
The presiding judge of the case said that in terms of criminal responsibility, Xu Chaofan was the most culpable, followed by Yu Zhendong, and Xu Guojun again. However, judging from the circumstances, Xu Chaofan and Yu Zhendong voluntarily accepted the repatriation to China, which constituted voluntary surrender and had statutory mitigating circumstances; Xu Guojun was forcibly repatriated to China without the mitigating circumstance of voluntary surrender. During the trial, the court adhered to the criminal policy of blending leniency with severity, and treated those who voluntarily returned to China and voluntarily surrendered in accordance with the law, so Xu Chaofan and Yu Zhendong were sentenced to 13 years and 12 years in prison respectively, and Xu Guojun was sentenced to life imprisonment within the legal range.
The only way to turn back is to turn back
On December 13, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission published an article "There is no way out of stubborn resistance, only turning back is the right way". It also mentions that the difference in sentencing is the embodiment of handling cases in accordance with the law and accurate trials, which not only grasps policies, treats them differently, improves accuracy, embodies humanization, but also maintains the dignity and bottom line of the law, and is a concrete practice of pursuing fugitives and recovering stolen goods and punishing corruption in accordance with the law.
The leniency of Yu Zhendong and Xu Chaofan conveyed a clear policy orientation for the pursuit of fugitives and stolen goods, and released a strong signal to encourage fugitive criminal suspects to voluntarily surrender.
Xu Guojun's ending is a powerful warning and deterrent. From the beginning of choosing to be tried in the United States, trying to use American law to evade punishment, to later having illusions and attempting to stay in the United States after completing his sentence, and finally being forcibly repatriated, the final result of his stubborn resistance was to lose the opportunity to obtain a reduced punishment by turning himself in.
In 2021, after Xu Guojun was forcibly repatriated to China, the person in charge of the Central Fugitive Pursuit Office pointed out that Xu Guojun was involved in a particularly huge amount of money, and he fled in fear of crime and resisted stubbornly, which had a very bad impact, and his return to the case fully proved that no matter where the corrupt elements fled and how long they fled, they could not escape the punishment of the law.
The criminal policy of blending leniency and severity is clear and clear, and the positive and negative examples are in front of us. For those who are at large, the only way to turn back is to turn back.
Source: Rule of Law Renaissance