China’s smuggling kingpin gets jail for life
May 18th, 2012 - 7:20 pm ICT by IANSBeijing, May 18 (IANS) A notorious kingpin of a smuggling ring has been sentenced to life imprisonment in China over smuggling and bribery charges.
The court said the sentencing of Lai Changxing, 53, was handed down given the graveness of his offences and “an extremely large amount of money” involved, China Daily reported Friday.
Lai, as the mastermind, should be held responsible for all the crimes his syndicate committed, the court added.
The court found Lai formed a smuggling ring by establishing firms and bases in Hong Kong and Xiamen city since 1991.
From December 1995 to May 1999, Lai’s syndicate smuggled cigarettes, cars, refined oil, vegetable oil, chemical materials, textile materials and other commodities worth 27 billion yuan (over $4 billion) and evaded duties of about 14 billion yuan, the court said.
To facilitate transactions, Lai and his ring members bribed 64 government officials with about 39 million yuan between 1991 and 1999, it said.
Lai fled to Canada in mid-1999 to avoid punishment. But he was repatriated to China July 23, 2011. He was then arrested and investigated for smuggling and bribery.
- Chinese smuggler jailed after 12 years on the run - May 19, 2012
- Two Chinese officials executed for bribery - Jul 19, 2011
- Former Chinese football bosses jailed for bribery - Jun 13, 2012
- Chinese official given death for taking bribe - Apr 27, 2012
- Chinese city set to become major shipping hub - Jul 25, 2012
- Corruption cases on the rise in China - Sep 08, 2010
- Former Chinese soccer chief goes on trial for graft - Apr 25, 2012
- Chinese airlines to buy 40 Boeing planes - Aug 07, 2012
- Fuel prices drop in China - Oct 09, 2011
- 21 jailed in China for telecom fraud - Jul 22, 2011
- Chinese official gets death term for graft - Apr 24, 2012
- Police deny torturing China's former soccer chief - Apr 26, 2012
- Chinese official jailed for 15 years for graft - Feb 20, 2012
- China jails soccer officials for corruption - Feb 18, 2012
- Chinese tycoon sentenced to 14 years in prison - May 18, 2010
Tags: amount of money, beijing, bribery charges, chemical materials, china daily, cigarettes, commodities, crimes, government officials, kingpin, lai changxing, life imprisonment, mastermind, oil chemical, refined oil, ring members, textile materials, vegetable oil, xiamen city, yuan