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Woman on wanted list latest fugitive to return from US
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A WOMAN who served a prison term in the United States for money laundering was repatriated to China yesterday.
Kuang Wanfang, who is wanted in a bribery investigation and is the wife of a former official of the state-owned Bank of China, was repatriated following cooperation with US law enforcement officials, said the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party.
She is the second person to be sent back to China from the US since the launch of the “Sky Net” campaign in April to bring back people who are accused of economic crimes and have fled overseas.
The US lacks an extradition treaty with China and is wary that the country’s court system may be “unfair” to defendants, so it has typically been cautious in turning Chinese suspects over to China, making it a top destination for corrupt Chinese officials.
China is seeking to change that, and the United States has agreed to cooperate.
Kuang is married to Xu Chaofan, who was involved in a US$485 million fraud case in south China’s Guangdong Province. She and another banker’s wife were convicted in 2009 by a federal jury in Las Vegas of helping launder the proceeds and violating immigration laws, including entering the country illegally and gaining US citizenship through fraud. The women got eight years in prison each.
Their husbands were also convicted on charges of racketeering, money laundering and international transport of stolen property and fraud. They were jailed for 25 years and 22 years respectively. All four lost their appeals in 2013.
Another culprit, Yu Zhendong, was sent back to China in 2004 on the condition that Yu would not be tortured or given the death penalty. Yu eventually got 12 years in prison.
The inspection authority said Kuang had been in hiding for 14 years and, upon her return, would face investigation on graft and bribery charges. It’s unclear if the other three people would be repatriated.
Last week, China hailed the return by the US of one of the country’s most prominent fugitives wanted for corruption.
Businessman Yang Jinjun is suspected of graft and bribery. His sister Yang Xiuzhu has been detained in the US but is seeking political asylum. The woman, formerly a deputy mayor in the eastern city of Wenzhou, is wanted in China for allegedly embezzling more than US$40 million.
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