China has brought back 40 fugitives accused of economic crimes from overseas as of Saturday, according to the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
It has been two years since the country launched the “Sky Net” campaign and published a list of the top 100 fugitives on the red notice of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) on April 22, 2015.
The red notice was issued by Interpol at the request of China to inform all its member countries to locate and provisionally arrest the fugitives pending extradition.
Of the 40 repatriated fugitives, 25 turned themselves in.
Nineteen have been arrested for corruption and seven for bribery, while the others were wanted for economic crimes like fraud and abuse of power.
Most of the fugitives fled to countries with which China has no extradition treaty. However, China has sought international cooperation to bring 19 fugitives back from countries including the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
A total of six fugitives have been sentenced: one life imprisonment and five lenient.
Under China’s criminal law, fugitives who confess their crimes and reduce loss before prosecution can get a lenient sentence.
