China's police busted more than 60,000 cases of economic crime
last year, a senior police officer said in Beijing on Tuesday.
Chinese police arrested more than 50,000 suspects and retrieved
14.3 billion yuan (US$1.79 billion) in funds, said Gao Feng, deputy
director of the economic crime investigation department of the
Ministry of Public Security.
Gao told a press conference, jointly held by the ministry and
the National Audit Office, that last year police around China also
worked with the supervisory and procuratorial departments to crack
down on a number of bribery and corruption cases, efforts which
helped to maintain market order.
In addition, Chinese audit offices nationwide transferred 2,033
cases involving 3,150 suspects to judicial organs between 2003 and
2005.
Most of the cases are related to finance and trade, accounting
for over 86 percent of cases cracked by auditors.
Meanwhile, foreign courts approved the extraditions to China of
53 suspects charged with economic crimes last year and, more
significant, the return of alleged smuggler Lai Changxing from
Canada is imminent.
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"Any criminal suspects who flee abroad in the hope of evading
punishment will be brought to justice," said Wu Heping, a ministry
spokesman. "It's just a matter of time."
Wu declined to answer questions on Lai's anticipated
deportation, but he promised to "inform the media on related
developments soon".
Lai is accused of leading the biggest smuggling operation
uncovered in China since 1949. He reportedly worked in cahoots with
corrupt officials in Xiamen City. The case involved goods worth
US$10 billion.
Lai fled to Canada with his family in 1999, where he has since
been trying to gain refugee status.
Chinese police have worked hard to strengthen cooperation with
foreign counterparts to tackle cases where criminal suspects flee
abroad, and these efforts "have paid off", Gao said.
"About 800 suspects wanted in connection with economic crimes
are residing in foreign countries," Gao said. "In the last two
years, more than 320 have been repatriated in connection with cases
involving nearly 70 billion yuan (US$875 million) worth of property
and funds."
The US also extradited a Chinese criminal suspect as a result of
judicial cooperation.
Yu Zhendong, former head of a Bank of China branch Kaiping City,
fled to the US before being tried in connection with the
disappearance of US$82.5 million from the bank. Yu was extradited
to China in 2004 after the Chinese government agreed he would not
be executed. Earlier this year, a court in the southern province of
Guangdong sentenced Yu to 12 years in prison
for embezzlement.
Chinese police are also in negotiations with their Dutch
counterparts for the return of Yang Xiuzhu, a former official from
east China's Zhejiang Province, who has been charged with
accepting bribes.
(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2006)