U.S. and China work to repatriate Chinese officials accused of corruption

BEIJING, March 25 (UPI) -- The United States and China are closely cooperating in the prosecution of Chinese officials who are being targeted as part of Beijing's anti-corruption drive.

The International Business Times on Wednesday reported Chinese prosecutors have handed over a "priority list" of Chinese officials hiding assets in the United States. China's state media reported Beijing seeks recovery of the assets and the repatriation of corrupt officials for trial.

The U.S. Justice Department has already indicted a fugitive Chinese official and ex-wife on charges of immigration fraud and money laundering on March 17, reported The Wall Street Journal.

The fugitive, Qiao Jianjun, was the former director of a grain storage facility in central China. He and his ex-wife Zhao Shilan lied about their marriage to transfer embezzled funds to the United States.

While Zhao was arrested in the U.S. and is being held without bail, Qiao has not been located. Ronald Cheng, an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, said the Chinese seek to prosecute fugitives like Zhao on corruption charges, but the Justice Department indicts Chinese officials on particular infractions -- such as money laundering and immigration fraud.

A Chinese state media outlet reported 110 officials in China were under investigation for "fraudulent transactions" connected to Qiao, who devised a multiyear scheme that generated $3.7 million of illicit funds and allowed his ex-wife to move $900,000 to the U.S., which was used to buy U.S. real estate.

Australia has agreed to cooperate in detaining and extraditing Chinese officials. In Canada, a Chinese fugitive, Li Dongzhe, was ordered to repatriate in order to serve a long jail term in China.

The sentence, however, is deterring other fugitives from returning home.

The International Business Times reported China's use of the death penalty for economic crimes is another deterrent to repatriation.