Two former Bank of China (
Through interpreters and their lawyers, former bankers Xu Guojun (許國俊), 47, and Xu Chaofan (許超凡) 40, and their wives, Yu Yingyi (余英怡), 43, and, Kuang Wanfang (鄺婉芳), 39, each pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, money laundering and transporting stolen money, plus visa and passport fraud. If convicted of all charges, each faces a maximum of 70 years in prison and a US$1.5 million fine.
Citing "new, far more wide-ranging charges" contained in a Jan. 31 superseding indictment, US District Magistrate Judge Lawrence Leavitt canceled a trial scheduled for later this month and set a new March 27 trial date. But he said that likely will be changed due to the case's complexity.
Defense lawyer Lawrence Litman of Las Vegas, representing Kuang, said outside court that the racketeering and money laundering conspiracy allegations set the scene for federal prosecutors to have to prove the Chinese defendants committed crimes abroad.
"We're actually going to have a trial here about whether money was stolen in China, because that's the basis for all the charges. If they were convicted in China and then came here with the money, that would be different," Litman said.
The four defendants, in shackles and jail uniforms, said they understood the charges against them, and each pleaded not guilty. They have been in custody since their arrests more than a year ago on a Sept. 21, 2004, indictment alleging they entered the US using false identities and staged fake marriages with naturalized US citizens.
Defense lawyers Mitchell Posin, representing Xu Chaofan, and Bret Whipple, representing Xu Guojun, have characterized their clients as pawns in a new era of US-Chinese legal cooperation. They say they will challenge efforts to hold the two men to US banking standards and laws.
Meanwhile a former vice president of China's Agricultural Development Bank (
The First Intermediate People's Court of Beijing sentenced Yu Dalu (於大路) to life imprisonment, deprived him of his political rights and ordered confiscation of all his personal property.
State media reported early last year that Yu had been arrested following a 2003 probe by the National Audit Office which uncovered a scheme at Agricultural Development Bank that diverted 810 million yuan into illegal stock trading.
Yu, 51, was alleged to have taken 300,000 yuan in bribes from a Shenzhen-based company in 1997, and another 420,000 yuan from a Tianjin-based company in 1998, Xinhua said.
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