Lai Xiaomin

CHINA: EX-CHAIRMAN OF HUARONG ASSET MANAGEMENT SENTENCED TO DEATH

January 5, 2021:

The former chairman of China’s Huarong Asset Management Co was sentenced to death, a court in the northern city of Tianjin said on 5 January 2021, in one of the country’s highest profile corruption cases.
Lai Xiaomin was convicted of receiving or seeking bribes totalling 1.788 billion yuan ($276.72 million) from 2008 to 2018, when he was also a senior banking regulator, according to the Secondary Intermediate People’s Court of Tianjin.
He was also convicted on a charge of bigamy.
Lai was expelled from the ruling Communist Party in 2018.
It was not possible to reach him or his lawyer for comment.
Huarong, one of China’s four big state asset management firms, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Lai Xiaomin was lawless and extremely greedy,” the court statement said.
The court noted that most of the activity in question took place after the 18th Party Congress in late 2012, referring to an event that kicked-off of a sweeping anti-corruption campaign by soon-to-be President Xi Jinping that became a hallmark of his first term.
“The social harm was huge and the crimes were extremely serious and he should be severely punished according to law,” the court said.