(Beijing) A Chinese court has sentenced a Chinese-Canadian businessman to 13 years in prison for a series of financial crimes and fined his company $8.1 billion.
Posted at 6:21 am
Xiao Jianhua was convicted of embezzling billions of dollars in deposits with banks and insurance companies and giving bribes to officials, social network account No. Shanghai Intermediate People’s Court.
Mr. Xiao was last seen in a Hong Kong hotel in January 2017, and was reportedly transferred by Chinese authorities to mainland China. Media later reported that anti-corruption authorities were investigating him, but no details were revealed.
The Canadian government said diplomats were prevented from attending his trial on July 5.
Tomorrow Group, a company controlled by Xiao Jianhua, has been linked to a series of anti-corruption lawsuits and the seizure of financial firms by regulators.
Xiao Jianhua has disappeared amid a wave of lawsuits against Chinese businessmen accused of misconduct.
This sparked speculation that the ruling Communist Party might kidnap people outside the mainland. Hong Kong then banned Chinese police from operating in the former British colony, which has a separate legal system.
Since then, Beijing has tightened its control over Hong Kong, prompting complaints that it is violating the autonomy it promised when the territory was handed over to China in 1997. The Communist Party imposed the National Security Law on Hong Kong in 2020 and jailed pro-democracy activists. .
Hong Kong police investigated Xiao Jianhua’s disappearance and said he had crossed the border to the mainland.
At the time of his disappearance, Xiao’s fortune was close to 6 billion, making him 32e The richest person in China, according to the Hurun Report which lists the richest people in the country.
In 2020, the regulators seized nine companies controlled by Xiao.