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Three Chinese indicted in NY for BoC fraud
(chinadaily.com.cn/agencies)
Updated: 2004-02-15 14:09
Three ethnic Chinese were indicted on Friday in Federal District Court in
Manhattan on charges that they defrauded the New York branch of the Bank of
China out of more than $25 million. This scam is linked to the downfall of the
former chairman of the bank, Chinese media said.
The arrest of three
ethnic Chinese over a 25 million dollar scam at the New York branch of the
Bank of China is linked to the downfall of the disgraced former chairman
of the bank, China's state press said. [AP] | The
indictment last week in New York of Zhou Qiang, Liu Ping and Yang Zhongqi was
linked to the fate of former BoC chairman Wang Xuebing, who used to serve a
governor of the New York branch.
Wang, 52, was sentenced to 12 years in prison by a Beijing court last
December after being convicted of embezzlement and accepting bribes. He was once
seen as a leading mover in the reform of China's state-owned banking industry.
According to the New York Times, Zhou, Liu and Yang were indicted on Friday
at the Federal District Court in Manhattan on charges they defrauded the New
York branch of the BoC out of more than 25 million dollars from 1991 to 2002.
The paper identified the three by their English names John Chou, 43, and his
wife, Sherry Liu, 44, of Alpine, New Jersey, and former BoC bank manager,
Patrick Young, 46, of Massapequa, New York.
According to a China Central Television report, Zhou and Liu falsified
international trading documents in an effort to secure loans aimed at financing
trade transactions that never took place. The couple bribed Yang, the BoC
employee, to participate in the scam., and and used their proceeds to extend
loans to their businesses and to enrich themselves and their family.
Former BoC chairman Wang was sacked in January 2002 in connection with credit
problems at bank branches under his control when he headed the BoC.
During the period of the alleged crimes, Wang served as both general manager
of the BoC in New York and later as the president of the bank.
Wang Xuebing was
standing trial for bribei-taking Dec. 10, 2003.
[sina] | Almost immediately following his
sacking, the BoC was jointly fined US$20 million by China's central bank, the
People's Bank of China, and by the US Treasury Department for irregularities at
the BoC branch in New York.
The BoC, China's main commercial foreign exchange bank and one of the big
four state-owned commercial banks, is in the process of transforming itself into
a joint-stock company with a public listing set for some time in 2005.
The indictment charges that from 1991 to 2002, Mr. Chou, Ms. Liu and Mr.
Young schemed to get the Bank of China to pay the beneficiaries of letters of
credit, which were companies that the couple owned, and to extend other
financing for international trade transactions that never took place, according
to a spokesman for the United States attorney for the Southern District of New
York.
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