What’s new: Fu Xiaodong, former Henan branch head of China Development Bank (CBD), was sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking 4.3 million yuan ($625,670) of bribes, according to a court in northwestern China’s Ningxia autonomous region.
The court found that Fu accepted bribes in 22 transactions between 2007 and 2020 during his tenure in senior positions at the policy lender's branches in Ningxia and in central China’s Henan province. He received the bribes in exchange for favors such as securing loans, business contracts and promotions for others.
Fu is also fined 500,000 yuan and had his illegal gains confiscated, the court said. Fu received a lenient sentence due to his bribery confession, return of illegal gains and voluntary admission of guilt, the court said.
The background: Fu, 61, was the president of the Henan branch of China Development Bank — the country’s largest policy lender — from 2016 to December 2020. He later served as a senior expert at the policy bank. He came under investigation in June 2022.
One of the clues leading to the investigation of Fu was lending by the bank to Luoyang Jinxin Group Co. Ltd., a private multi-industrial group in jewelry, finance, real estate and mining.
Jinxin Group paid Fu bribes in exchange for loans from China Development Bank, according to people at Jinxin Group. Most of the loans went bad, the people said.
Jinxin Group was involved in multiple lawsuits, and its Chairman Nian Yong’an was listed by courts as a person of dishonesty subject to enforcement, according to enterprise registration platform Qichacha.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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