Court orders confiscation of couple's assets

A court in Hunan province has ordered the confiscation of the illegal assets of fugitive couple Peng Xufeng and Jia Siyu, who are on Interpol's Red Notice list.

Peng, a former official in Changsha, Hunan's provincial capital, and his wife face bribery and money laundering charges related to 239 million yuan ($34 million) in bribes. They fled abroad in March 2017, the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission said in a statement on Friday.

Prosecutors applied to the Yueyang Intermediate People's Court in Hunan for permission to confiscate Peng and Jia's domestic and overseas assets and properties.

The court heard the application on Dec 31 and said on Friday it believed there was sufficient evidence to prove Peng was involved in bribery and Jia was involved in bribery and money laundering.

The court ordered the confiscation of their illegal gains, including over 103 million yuan, gold products, five overseas properties, 2.5 million euros ($2.79 million) in bonds and $500,000. Authorities are still searching for the rest of the couple's illegal gains.

The court will ask foreign judicial organs for assistance in retrieving the couple's overseas assets.

The investigation found that from 2010 to 2017, Peng took advantage of his positions as deputy director of the Housing and Construction Committee of Changsha and Party chief and chairman of Changsha Metro Group to help businesses and individuals win contracts for projects, lease land and procure facilities. In return, he accepted money and properties worth 239 million yuan either directly or through Jia.

From 2012 to 2017, Jia transferred 43 million yuan overseas through underground banks and other people's bank accounts. The two fled abroad separately in March 2017 and have not been found.

Peng fled to Australia in March 2017 and then headed to the United States. In May 2017, Interpol issued a Red Notice requesting that law enforcement agencies worldwide locate and arrest Peng and Jia.

Peng, born in Hunan in 1966, became the chairman of Changsha Metro Group in August 2010 while still serving as deputy director of the city's Housing and Construction Committee. He left his committee post in 2012 and became the group's Party chief as well as its chairman in April 2015. In March 2017, he was appointed Party chief and chairman of Hunan Infrastructure Investment Group, which has since been renamed Hunan Rail Transit Holding Group.

In 2015, the central government issued a list of 100 high-profile Chinese fugitives subject to Interpol Red Notices. Sixty have since been arrested.

Four Chinese suspects on the Red Notice list, Mo Peifen, Xiao Jianming, Liu Baofeng and Huang Ping, returned to China and turned themselves in last year.

Also, four duty crime suspects who had fled to Cambodia were returned to China last year after the National Supervisory Commission asked Cambodian law enforcement authorities for assistance.