Voluntary returnees may get more leniency than those who evade law

Of the 40 most-wanted fugitives who have returned to China, 15 have been convicted so far in the country's effort to run down corrupt former officials.

Some received life in prison, while others were absolved, the country's top anti-graft watchdog said on Wednesday.

Nine others have been charged and are awaiting court verdicts, and 13 are still under investigation by police or prosecutors, according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

In addition, judicial authorities have decided not to bring charges against two suspects due to insufficient evidence and the minor nature of the crimes. They quashed the indictment of a female suspect named Gu Zhenfang, who died in Thailand in 2006, according to the CCDI.

"These punishments reflect China's rule of law. Those who voluntarily come back to confess their crimes will get a lenient penalty within the scope of the law, and those who are captured will face heavier punishment," an information officer at the CCDI's International Cooperation Bureau said. The officer asked not to be named.

In recent years, a large number of corrupt officials and executives from State-owned companies have fled the country to avoid legal punishment. They also transferred large amounts of illegal funds to foreign accounts through money laundering or underground banks, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

In late 2012, China launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign after the new leadership was elected. To capture economic fugitives abroad, China launched its Sky Net operation in 2014.

In April 2015, Interpol issued red notices - requests to locate and detain an individual pending repatriation - for China's 100 most-wanted fugitives. So far, 40 have returned from more than 16 countries and regions.

Among them are some high-profile fugitives, such as 47-year-old Yan Yongming. Yan, former chairman of Tonghua Golden-Horse Pharmaceutical Co in Jilin province, was convicted of embezzlement on Dec 22.

Because of his voluntary return to China after living abroad for 15 years, Yan received a lenient sentence of three years in jail with a three-year reprieve, which means he won't have to stay behind bars if he behaves well during the three years. The court also confiscated his illegal gains, which were valued at 329 million yuan ($47.6 million).

"Chinese judicial organs have appropriately dealt with the corrupt fugitives in accordance with Chinese law," said Huang Feng, an international criminal law professor at Beijing Normal University. "We have given criminal punishments, tempering justice with mercy."

Figures provided by the CCDI show, as of March, that Chinese judicial officers had brought back 2,873 fugitives suspected of economic crimes from more than 90 countries and regions, including 476 former public servants. They confiscated 8.99 billion yuan in illegal assets.

zhangyan1@chinadaily.com.cn