China's National People's Congress meets only once a year for its full session. (Photo : Getty Images)
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) reported the repatriation of 158 Chinese nationals accused of committing duty-related offenses amounting to 1.73 billion yuan. The suspects, who fled overseas to evade prosecution, were repatriated through the SPP’s special operation that started in 2014.
Xinhua reported that 516 million yuan worth of assets have been seized from 41 fugitives from 18 countries from January to Nov. 2016.
SPP official Wan Chun said that of the rounded-up fugitives, 40 suspects have received verdicts, with courts currently trying seven cases.
The repatriations have been particularly problematic, as most of the fugitives went in hiding in countries that have no extradition treaties with China such as Australia, Canada, and the U.S. Currently, China is a party to 54 treaties for judicial assistance and 41 for extradition.
Nonetheless, the SPP successfully utilized existing bilateral agreements in going after fugitives in such countries. The China-U.S. Joint Liaison Group (JLG) on Law Enforcement Cooperation proved instrumental in bringing home Chinese fugitives from different parts of the world, the Global Times reported.
The JLG has long served as a major component of China’s efforts to cooperate with law enforcement in the U.S. Formed in 1998, the bilateral agreement has operated under the tutelage of key officials in both countries’ foreign, security and justice ministries, among many others.
The SPP aims to strengthen its campaign against duty-related crimes. The agency plans to achieve that through stronger cooperation with the rest of the international community, maximizing treaties on judicial assistance and extradition, and crafting a process specifically designed for recovering ill-gotten wealth.
Following the repatriations, Wan said that the SPP vows to further strengthen China’s corruption crackdown by continuing to go after illicit gains.
“Utmost efforts will be made to recover ill-gotten gains to prevent criminal offenders from getting the better end economically,” the official said.
