The chairman of China Huarong Asset Management, one of China’s top bankers, who also served as the Communist Party chief inside the company, Lai Xiaomin has been arrested for taking USD 256 million in cash and gifts. His arrest has revealed the rampant corruption in the government.
According to media reports, he was accused of exploiting various professional positions and accepting ill-gotten gains, including money and goods worth 1.79 billion yuan, of which 104 million yuan was eventually not received, between 2008 and 2018, when he headed Hong Kong-listed China Huarong Asset Management and was the director-general of the People’s Bank of China’s banking supervision department. He is also accused of embezzling public assets worth more than 25.13 million yuan between 2009 and 2018.
Meanwhile, the Indian Income Tax Department carried out searches on the premises of Chinese entities, their confederates and some bank employees in Delhi.
It was revealed that at the behest of the Chinese nationals, more than 40 bank accounts were created in dummy entities, through which credits of over Rs 1,000 crore were entered into over the period, a statement by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said.
It was also reported that subsidiary of a Chinese company took over Rs 100 crore bogus advances from shell entities for opening retail showrooms businesses in the country. Further, incriminating documents revealing hawala transactions money laundering with the involvement of bank employees and chartered accountants (CAs) were found during the search action.