Ex-executives of Guo Wengui plead guilty

Three former senior executives who worked for Guo stand trial at the Xigang District People's Court in Dalian, June 9, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Former executives of a Chinese billionaire fugitive Guo Wengui pleaded guilty in court to fraudulently obtaining loans and foreign currency in Dalian, Liaoning province, on Friday.

Three ex-senior executives, Yang Ying, Xie Honglin and Lyu Tao, who worked for Guo, and the Beijing Pangu Investment Inc, one of Guo’s companies, confessed that they managed to get a loan of 3.2 billion yuan ($470 million) from the Agricultural Bank of China using fake official seals, contracts and invoices in 2010, and illegally gained foreign currency of $13.5 million in 2012.

The defendants said in court that Guo asked them to do so.

This is the first trial related to Guo, who fled abroad about three years ago and his whereabouts is unknown. The public hearing of the case began at 8:30 am at the Xigang District People’s Court in Dalian on Friday. The verdict will be handed down at a later date.

Information, photos as well as videos of the trial were broadcast via the court’s official account on Sina Weibo, Chinese Twitter-like platform.

In April, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a news briefing that the Interpol has issued a “red-corner notice” for the 50-year-old Guo.

Meanwhile, Beijing News reported that Guo took out a loan of 3.2 billion yuan from the Agricultural Bank of China using forged official seals, fake contracts and counterfeit invoices.