Police seize first 'most wanted' fugitive

Ex-boss of investment firm picked up at airport after returning with fake ID and foreign passport

Chinese police have captured Dai Xuemin, the first most wanted fugitive nabbed since Interpol issued arrest warrants for 100 missing officials suspected of corruption.

Dai, 57, a former manager of a trust and investment company in Shanghai suspected of embezzling 11 million yuan ($1.77 million), was captured at an airport in China, according to the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

According to a Beijing News report, Dai fled the country in August 2001 to avoid prosecution and was thought to have escaped to Belize, the United States or South Korea.

He was captured on Saturday morning when he returned with a fake ID and foreign passport, the CCDI said in a released statement. He was detained and the case is under further investigation, according to the CCDI.

On Wednesday, Interpol released a list of 100 Chinese fugitives, mostly wanted worldwide, including 77 men and 23 women accused of involvement in corruption.

Most of the fugitives face charges of embezzlement, abusing power, corruption and bribery, and many of them have escaped to the US, Canada and Singapore to avoid punishment, according to the CCDI.

The Ministry of Public Security has requested the countries to "assist in extraditing the fugitives back to China to stand trial".

Among the 100 suspects, Yang Xiuzhu, former deputy director of Zhejiang Provincial Construction Bureau, was listed the No 1 fugitive. She allegedly fled to the US in 2003 and went to Singapore and the Netherlands to avoid capture.

In 2005, police in the Netherlands arrested her while she was hiding in a cold and wet underground room in Rotterdam, the CCDI said.

Judicial authorities in the Netherlands have initiated procedures to extradite her to face trial, the commission said.

According to CCTV reports, Yan Yongming, former chairman of Tonghua Jinma Pharmaceutical Group in Jilin province, who was accused of corruption and listed fifth among the 100 fugitives, will also be extradited to face trial from New Zealand.

The report said Chinese law enforcement officers are negotiating to extradite Yan to face trial.

Yang acquired a Chinese aphrodisiac drug industry for 318 million ($51.3 million) in 2000, but his company declined dramatically and losses reached 584 million yuan, according to the CCTV report. He reportedly fled to Australia and New Zealand in 2001.

According to the CCDI, the Interpol list is part of the Sky Net action, initiated in early April to target Chinese corrupt officials who are still at large in foreign countries, especially in the US, Canada and Australia and confiscate their assets.

Fu Kui, director at the CCDI's International Cooperation Bureau, said Interpol's issuing of Red Notices to capture them is conducive to "strengthening law enforcement with relevant countries and improving efficiency to extradite the fugitives and confiscate their illegal proceeds".

zhangyan1@chinadaily.com.cn