China jails Canadian tycoon for 13 years for finance crimes; company fined $8.1 billion
Beijing, Aug 19: A Chinese-born Canadian tycoon who disappeared from Hong Kong in 2017 was sentenced Friday to 13 years in prison for a multibillion-dollar string of financial offences and his company was fined 8.1 billion, a court announced.
Xiao Jianhua was convicted of misusing billions of dollars of deposits from banks and insurers controlled by his Tomorrow Group and offering bribes to officials, the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court said on its social media account.
Xiao was fined 6.5 million yuan ( 950,000) and his company was fined 55 billion yuan ( 8.1 billion), the court said.
Xiao was last seen at a Hong Kong hotel in January 2017 and was believed to have been taken to the mainland by Chinese authorities. News reports later said he was under investigation by anti-graft authorities, but no details were released.
The Canadian government said diplomats were blocked from attending his July 5 trial.
Xiao was deemed to be a Chinese citizen, which meant he wasn't entitled to see Canadian diplomats under a consular treaty between the two governments, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.
That suggested Xiao might have entered the mainland using a Chinese travel document instead of his Canadian passport. Beijing has in other cases refused diplomats access to citizens of their countries who entered using Chinese identity documents.
China does not recognise Chinese citizens with dual nationality. Xiao Jianhua has Chinese nationality, Wang said. He does not enjoy the right to consular protection of other countries.
The Canadian Embassy in Beijing referred a request for comment to the Canadian government in Ottawa.
Tomorrow Group has been linked to a series of anti-corruption prosecutions and seizures of financial companies by regulators.
Friday's announcement said Xiao and Tomorrow Group were convicted of improperly taking more than 311.6 billion yuan ( 46 billion) from the public and misused entrusted property and money totaling 148.6 billion yuan ( 21.8 billion).
Xiao vanished amid a flurry of prosecutions of Chinese businesspeople accused of misconduct.
That fuelled speculation the ruling Communist Party might be abducting people outside the mainland. Hong Kong at that time prohibited Chinese police from operating in the former British colony, which has a separate legal system.
Since then, Beijing has tightened control over Hong Kong, prompting complaints it is violating the autonomy promised when the territory returned to China in 1997. The Communist Party imposed a national security law in Hong Kong in 2020 and has imprisoned pro-democracy activists.
Hong Kong police investigated Xiao's disappearance and said he crossed the border into the mainland. An advertisement in the Ming Pao newspaper in Xiao's name the same week denied he was taken against his will.
At the time of his disappearance, Xiao was worth nearly 6 billion, making him China's 32nd wealthiest person, according to the Hurun Report, which follows the country's wealthy.
In 2020, regulators seized nine companies controlled by Xiao.
That included four insurers, two securities firms, two trust firms and a company involved in financial futures. The business magazine Caixin reported at the time that the seized assets totaled almost 1 billion yuan ( 150 million).
A retired bank regulator, Xue Jining, admitted taking 400 million yuan ( 62 million) in bribes in a corruption case linked to Baoshang Bank Ltd. in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, which regulators seized from Tomorrow in 2019.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
LoP Ashoka targets CM govt over corruption, says being 'shameless' in public life not forgivable
Bengaluru (PTI): Targeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress government in Karnataka on corruption, BJP leader R Ashoka on Friday said, being foolish was forgivable, but being "shameless" in public life was not.
The Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly claimed that in just 30 months of its tenure, the Congress administration has broken every previous record on corruption-related controversies.
He was responding to Siddaramaiah's post on 'X' on Thursday hitting back at the BJP, stating that Upa Lokayukta Justice Veerappa's claims of "63 per cent corruption" were based on his report in November 2019, when BJP's B S Yediyurappa was the CM.
"But Ashoka, without understanding the Upa Lokayukta's statement properly, has ended up tying the BJP's own bells of sins onto our heads and has effectively shot himself in the foot," the CM had said, as he accused Ashoka of foolishness for trying to twist Veerappa's statement to target the current government.
Responding, Ashoka said, "it is one thing to be called foolish in politics, that can be forgiven."
"But in public life, especially in the Chief Minister's chair, one must never become shameless," Ashoka posted on 'X' on Friday addressing Siddaramaiah.
Noting that the CM himself had admitted on the floor of the Assembly that a Rs 87 crore scam took place in the Valmiki Development Corporation, he said that when a CM acknowledges such a massive irregularity inside the floor of the House, the natural expectation is immediate action and accountability.
"But instead of taking responsibility, you continue in office as if nothing has happened. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness," he asked.
Pointing out that the CM's Economic Advisor and senior Congress MLA Basavaraja Rayareddy had publicly stated that under Congress rule, Karnataka has become No.1 in corruption, Ashoka said, "Yet, you still cling to the Chief Minister's chair without a moment of introspection. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness."
Senior Congress MLA C R Patil had exposed the "money for House" racket in the Housing Department and even warned that the government would collapse if the details he has were made public, Ashoka said.
"Despite such serious allegations from within your own party (Congress), you neither initiated an inquiry nor acted against the concerned minister. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness," Ashoka asked the CM.
Highlighting the "40 percent commission" allegation Congress made against the previous BJP government, the opposition leader said, the commission that the Siddaramaiah government appointed concluded that the accusation was baseless.
"After your own panel demolished your own claim, what moral right do you have to continue repeating that allegation. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness," he asked.
For the last two and a half years, Karnataka has been 'drowning' in corruption, scandals, irregularities and allegations across departments. Ashoka said, "If I begin listing every case that emerged under your government, even 24 hours would not be enough."
"And the most tragic aspect of your administration is this: the unbearable pressure, corruption demands and administrative harassment under your government pushed several officers and contractors into extreme distress - including the suicide of Chandrasekharan which exposed the Valmiki Development Corporation scam - a sign of how deeply broken the system has become under your watch," he said.
Instead of fixing this hopeless environment, the government has tried to bury every complaint and silence every voice, he charged.
"Being foolish is forgivable, but being shameless in public life is definitely not."
"When your own ministers admit scams, when your own advisors certify Karnataka as No.1 in corruption, and when your own MLAs expose rackets inside your departments - clinging to power without accountability is not leadership. It is shamelessness in its purest form." PTI KSU
Earlier on Thursday Ashoka had demanded that the corruption case and allegations in the state against the Congress government be handed over to a CBI investigation, citing a reported statement by Upalokaykta Justice Veerappa alleging "63 per cent corruption", following which Siddaramaiah hit back at the BJP leader.
