Another Jilin Case With Vancouver Connections

Aside from its investigation of Sun Hongwei’s businesses, Chinese business magazine Caijing has published a number of stories on corruption in Jilin that were cited in a confidential 2008 report sent to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Describing “endemic” rot reported by the “hard-hitting Caijing magazine,” the report says: “Northeastern Chinese of all stripes bemoan official corruption as a fact of life here. Hardest hit has been Jilin province.”

One such corruption case involved a $130-million bank fraud in northeastern Jilin and neighbouring Harbin, committed by Bank of China branch manager Gao Shan and his co-conspirators, businessman Li Dongze and Dongze’s brother, Li Donghu.

Companies including Northeast Expressway, a state-owned highway company, had looted money from a bank branch in Changchun City. When bank auditors discovered missing funds, the three men fled to Vancouver in 2004 to join family members. China requested the RCMP’s assistance in their return. Gao and Li Dongze were persuaded to turn themselves in to Chinese police on fraud and forgery charges.

Other suspects in the case were charged with blackmail, bribery and drug dealing. Chinese newspapers reported that Li Dongze attempted to bribe and blackmail Chinese officials while hiding in Vancouver, before returning to China in 2012. Li Dongze, Li Donghu, and Gao Shan have all been convicted and jailed in China.

The confidential U.S. government report paints a depressing picture of life in Jilin. Ten of the province’s top judges were prosecuted for corruption in the mid-2000s, the report says, along with many top politicians, police, and the heads of state-owned companies. Several people connected with the Northeast Expressway fraud committed suicide, and the company’s chief was sentenced to death. The report said collusion between police and Chinese mafia in the Jilin region is common.