Fugitive officials brought back home to face justice Law enforcement cooperation with Western counterparts intensified

A total of 43 former officials suspected of corruption were brought back from more than 19 countries and regions to face justice in the first 11 months of last year, according to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.

National prosecutors also confiscated about 548 million yuan ($79.5 million) of illegal assets, said Song Hansong, a senior official with the SPP’s Anti-Corruption and Bribery Bureau.

Among the 43 fugitives, 11 wererepatriatedandthe others were persuaded confess to their told China Daily.

The charges mainly involved corruption, bribery and embezzlement, with a total of 16 of them returning from the United States, Canada, Australia andNewZealand, he said.

Since2016, aspartofanational anti-corruption campaign, the SPP has conducted a special actiontargetingcorruptofficials whoare still at large abroad.

“We’ve strengthened law enforcement cooperation with overseas counterparts, especially those inWestern countries, to share intelligence and conduct joint investigations,” Song said, to return to crimes, Song adding that intensified cooperation has been effective.

In September, Jiang Qian, a former senior executive with State-owned Wuhan Urban Drainage Development Ltd in Hubei province, returned from Canadato confess to his crimes.

Jiang, who fled to Canada in 2011, was accused of abusing his power and of corruption. After he left the country, the prosecuting department in Hubei launched a probe into Jiang, beginning procedures to confiscate his illegal funds left in China and seeking assistance from Canada.

In December 2015, a local court inWuhan ruled to confiscate Jiang’s ill-gotten assets worth 14 million yuan, and Jiangis currentlyawaitingtrial.

According to the Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection, the top anti-graft watchdog, China will start a new round of action in April to continue its hunt for corrupt officialsandeconomicfugitives.

Aspartoftheaction, national prosecutors will deepen judicial cooperation with the international community, especially Western countries, to locate and recover illicitly acquired assets and capture fugitives. Taking measures to prevent corrupt officials from fleeing China will also be a priority this year, according to the SPP.

“Uncovering ill-gotten funds involves presenting solid evidence to our foreign counterparts when asking them to assist in discovering, freezing and confiscating dirty money,” said Huang Feng, a professor of international criminal law at BeijingNormalUniversity.