08/13/2012

China’s Gao Shan heads home to face charges on $130M fraud ring after eight years hiding in Vancouver

Eight years after he slipped out of China to take up a quiet suburban life in Vancouver, Gao Shan, the accused mastermind of a $130-million embezzlement ring, has returned home to face fraud charges.

The sudden surrender ends Mr. Gao’s careful eight-year bid to evade the international reach of Chinese authorities.

Reportedly, the ex-banker “came to the conclusion that if he ultimately going to be sent back anyway it might be better if he was sent back voluntarily,” said Clive Ansley, a B.C. litigation lawyer who practiced in Shanghai for 13 years.

Mr. Gao is the former manager of the Bank of China branch in Harbin, a city of 10 million near the Russian border. According to Chinese authorities, between 2000 and 2004 Mr. Gao was the ringleader of a scheme to siphon cash from corporate accounts.

‘I don’t think the Chinese government likes to talk openly about it — it’s kind of embarrassing that they couldn’t find these potential criminals before they left the country’

Only weeks before the alleged fraud was discovered, say Chinese officials, Mr. Gao boarded a plane to Canada. Just before leaving, the banker reportedly told colleagues he was merely going to Beijing for surgery. He also instructed a colleague to hold onto his cell phone and leave it on. “Mr. Gao appears to have been trying to create the illusion that he was still in China,” reads the transcript of a 2007 Canadian immigration hearing.

Read more at National Post

Aug 13, 2012 8:57:19 PM | Crime, Current Affairs

The comments to this entry are closed.

NEXT POST
China steps up diplomacy with Syrian envoy visit * Foreign Ministry says Beijing considering inviting Syrian opposition groups in near term to China BEIJING: China said on Monday that it would host an envoy of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and consider another visit by members of the opposition, as Beijing steps up its diplomacy to help resolve the crisis gripping the country. The West and many in the Arab world have scolded China, along with its ally Russia, for vetoing United Nations Security Council resolutions designed to exert pressure on Assad. China has said it is simply trying to prevent more violence. Opposition sources say at least 18,000...
PREVIOUS POST
Medals obscure cost of China's state-run sports regime Weeds cover a deserted theme park north of Beijing By Ian Ransom and Ryan McNeill LONDON | Tue Aug 14, 2012 2:09am IST LONDON (Reuters) - China's massive medal haul at the London Games has once again showcased the country's ability to produce champions through its rigid Soviet-style sports regime, but national pride has been tempered by concerns about the human costs of sporting glory. Chinese bloggers expressed their disgust last week after a Shanghai newspaper reported that the parents of Olympic diver Wu Minxia had concealed her mother's long battle with breast cancer for fear of disturbing her training....