A New Zealand court on Wednesday sentenced a Chinese graft fugitive to a five months of home detention with a six-month reprieve for money laundering. Around 19 million US dollars (130 million yuan) recouped from the criminal has been returned to China.
Yan Yongming, former chairman of the pharmaceutical company Tonghua Golden-horse in northeast China's Jilin Province, had been hiding in Australia and New Zealand since November 2001, after embezzling 187 million yuan (27 million US dollars) from the company.
Yan Yongming, a graft fugitive who had been on the run for 15 years, arrives in Beijing, China, Nov. 12, 2016. /Xinhua Photo
Yan was number five on China's list of its top 100 fugitives and was on an Interpol "red notice," after fleeing China following embezzlement charges.
Chinese police have conducted joint law enforcement work with Australian and New Zealand police after his escape. Yan returned to China and turned himself in in November, 2016, 15 years after fleeing the country.
He was sentenced to three years in prison with a three-year reprieve by a local court in Tonghua City, Jilin Province in December 2016, and was transferred to New Zealand law enforcement authorities in January 2017 at their request.
China's most wanted fugitive Yang Xiuzhu, who had been on the run for 13 years, returned to China. /Xinhua Photo
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), China's top discipline watchdog, announced on Wednesday the return of 40 fugitives on the Interpol "red notice."
According to the statement, 15 of them have received sentences from courts, and two were spared prosecution. Nine others are currently on trial, while 13 others are being investigated or charged. One of the cases was withdrawn due to the suspect's death, according to the CCDI.
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