Taking aim at fugitives fleeing abroad

Govt expands efforts to recover ill-gotten funds from suspects

BEIJING: China is working closely with its counterparts from anti- corruption departments globally to nab trans-border fugitives and confiscate their illicit assets, Procurator-General Cao Jianming told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

Figures provided by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate show that since October 2014, when prosecuting departments in China launched the special action to capture such fugitives and recover their illegal funds, 174 corrupt officials had returned to face trial, with 1.9 billion yuan (RM1.2bil) in illegal funds confiscated with the judicial assistance of foreign agencies.

Cao said they would start recovering ill-gotten funds from suspects who had escaped overseas.

“We will take measures to col- lect solid evidence and initiate in a timely manner the recovery procedure to cut off the fugitives economic support,” he said.

In recent years, a large number of corrupt Chinese officials and directors from state-owned companies have escaped to Western countries such as the United States and Canada to avoid punishment through a lack of bilateral extradition treaties or differences in the legal systems, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

They have transferred hundreds of millions of yuan in illegal assets to foreign accounts through money laundering and underground banks.

Cao said officials have taken steps with Western authorities and there were some achievements in the pursuit of fugitives.