China Banker Gets Death Sentence For Taking Rs 1,264 Crore In Bribes

Bai Tianhai, former general manager of China Huarong International Holdings (CHIH), who accepted bribes worth more than 1.1 billion yuan (Rs 12,64,12,73,722) has been sentenced to death by a court in eastern China. The court found that the former senior banker took advantage of his position to aid others in the acquisitions and financing of projects in exchange for huge sums, South China Morning Post reported. 

Notably, CHIH, an offshore unit of China Huarong Asset Management (CHAM), was taken over by the Citic Group and renamed China Citic Financial Asset Management in January.

The court noted that the bribes the former banker had taken were ''particularly huge'' and the impacts of his crimes on society ''particularly pernicious, causing … serious losses to the interests of the state and the people''. 

''Taking all these [factors] into account, [the court] ruled that [Bai] does not deserve a lighter sentence. Hence the death penalty verdict,'' the ruling said.

During the ruling, the court ordered that all his personal property be confiscated. He was also permanently stripped of his political rights.

Before Tianhai, his ex-boss and former chairman of CHAM, also received a death sentence for corruption. In January 2021, the same court sentenced Lai Xiaomin after finding him guilty of taking 1.79 billion yuan (US$247 million) in bribes, embezzlement of public assets worth more than 25.13 million yuan (US$3.46 million), and bigamy.

Xu Maiyong and Jiang Renjie, former mayors of the eastern cities of Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province, and Suzhou in Jiangsu, also received similar sentences. 

It's not yet known if Tianhai would be appealing the sentence. A Beijing-based criminal lawyer said that he expects Bai to appeal on grounds of precedent, citing cases where defendants were given lesser sentences for similar offences.

The rare ruling comes after China's top corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) launched a crackdown on the finance sector this year, in response to Xi Jinping's call to make China a "financial superpower" and contain risks.

There should be “absolutely no mercy” in rooting out the “severe and complex” problem of corruption and fraud, Xi said.