Former bank official sentenced for corruption, embezzlement

Xu Chaofan, who was put on Interpol's red notice list of fugitives before being brought back to China, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for corruption and embezzlement of public funds by Jiangmen Intermediate People's Court in Guangdong province on Wednesday.

The court also levied a fine of two million yuan and recovered the illicit money. Xu, former head of the Kaiping branch of the Bank of China in Guangdong, said he would not appeal.

Given that Xu voluntarily returned to China for trial and truthfully confessed his guilt, the court gave him a lighter punishment in accordance with laws.

Since 1993, Xu, now in his late 50s, had taken advantage of positions, including his role at Bank of China and director of the business department of the Guangdong branch of BOC, to collude with others to obtain funds from the bank through false loans and embezzle funds for repaying loans, funneling out illicit gains worth $62.2 million and HK$129 million ($16.6 million), the court said.

He also embezzled 355 million yuan ($55.2 million), HK$20 million and $124 million.

Xu fled China in 2001, and Interpol issued an international red notice in January 2002. Xu had been detained in the United States for nearly 13 years for money laundering and illegal transferring. Xu chose to be repatriated from the US in July 2018.

Xu's case was publicly heard by the court in February 2021, and he pleaded guilty.