Escaped fugitive banker arrested after 21 years in the US
A former banker, listed as one of Shanghai’s most-wanted corrupt fugitives, has turned himself in.
Chen Fujin,72, former director of the Minhang branch of Bank of Communications, used a fake passport to fly to the US on March 13, 1996. His wife escaped with him, according to prosecutors of Minhang District.
On October 18, 1997, he was tagged with an Interpol “red notice” that named Chinese economic fugitives who had fled overseas. He was also wanted as part of China’s “Sky Net” anti-graft campaign, started in April 2015, to repatriate fugitive officials.
Details about the corruption, like the amount of the alleged ill-gotten money, weren’t disclosed.
Sun Jing, director of the Minhang District People’s Procuratorate, said they approached Chen and his relatives by WeChat and finally he was persuaded to return to Shanghai last Thursday.
“I am willing to receive any punishment,” Chen said on local TV news.
He was arrested on his arrival, prosecutors said.
Shanghai prosecutors have now captured nearly 20 suspects wanted in the “Sky Net” campaign.
