Former bank official pleads guilty in embezzlement case

Xu Guojun, former head of a Bank of China sub-branch in Guangdong province, pleaded guilty to corruption and embezzlement when standing trial at a local court on Wednesday.

Xu fled to the United States in 2001, and was repatriated to China in November 2021.

The People's Procuratorate of Jiangmen City accused the defendant of using his positions as office director, deputy head and head of the Kaiping Branch of the Bank of China from 1993 to 2000, along with bank officials Xu Chaofan, Yu Zhendong and others, to embezzle public funds through making false loans to draw money from the bank, occupying normal company loan repayment funds or directly transferring funds. Funds involved totaled over $62 million, over HK$363 million and over 1.46 million German marks, and public funds misappropriated totaled over 355 million yuan, HK$20 million and $126 million.

The Jiangmen Intermediate People's Court said it will announce a ruling at a later date.

More than 20 people, including national lawmakers, political advisors and journalists, participated in the hearing.

Xu Chaofan and Yu Zhendong, two others involved in the case, were repatriated in 2004 and 2018 respectively after they fled to the US. Yu was sentenced to 12 years in prison for corruption and embezzlement in 2006, while Xu Chaofan was given a 13-year sentence for the same charges in 2021.

The office in charge of fugitive repatriation and asset recovery under the central anti-corruption coordination group previously revealed the three conducted foreign exchange transactions in the form of buying and selling on behalf of clients, then embezzled the funds. They borrowed money from the bank and transferred it to a Hong Kong-based company controlled by the three.

The office also said the three got US green cards in 1994 by arranging marriages and divorces so they could live permanently there.

In 2001, the Guangdong Branch of BOC conducted an inspection and discovered Xu had conspired with the two others to embezzle the money. The three then fled the country.

Later that year, Interpol issued an international red notice to track the three down.