Former Bank of China Manager Jailed for Life

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Facts

  • Former Bank of China (BOC) branch manager Xu Guojun has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted in connection to the embezzlement and misappropriation of over $483M between 1993 and 2001. Xu was on the run for 20 years until the US extradited him to China in 2021. 1
  • The court ruled that Xu and his accomplices embezzled over 900M yuan ($125.4M) in US dollars, Hong Kong dollars, and German marks through fraudulent loans, misappropriated loan payments, and the siphoning of bank funds to other accounts. The group was also convicted of misappropriating another 1.4B yuan for other illegal purposes. 1
  • Besides his life sentence, Xu, who said he won't be appealing his conviction, will also be banned from political activities and will have all his assets confiscated. His two accomplices, Yu Zhendong and Xu Chaofan, have been sentenced to 12 and 13 years in prison, respectively. 2
  • This comes as Pres. Xi Jinping has pledged to crack down on what he calls the "hedonistic" lifestyle of bankers. Former chairman of the BOC, Liu Liange, was arrested in October for alleged bribery and illegal loan handouts, with former chairman of China Life Insurance, Wang Bin, sentenced to life in prison in September for bribery.2
  • More than 100 officials and executives in the finance industry have reportedly been brought down in 2023 under Xi's crackdown on corruption, and authorities look to continue promoting financial stability. 3

Sources: 1South China Morning Post, 2BBC News, and 3BNN.

Narratives

  • Pro-China narrative, as provided by China Daily. Considering the economic pain Xu caused for the government and the Chinese people, this sentence is more than fair. After decades of thievery and another 20 years of hiding from justice, the government has finally put an end to this corrupt scheme and its perpetrators.
  • Anti-China narrative, as provided by New York Times. Don't be fooled by Xi's faux egalitarianism. He isn't cracking down on successful businessmen due to their greed but rather due to their unwillingness to completely bow to his regime. He's investigated, sanctioned, or arrested dozens of executives — from the finance industry to the tech industry — to solidify Communist Party loyalty among the nation's elite.
  • Nerd narrative, as provided by Metaculus. There's a 50% chance that China will officially cease to be a socialist state by January 2097, according to the Metaculus prediction community.