Xiao Jianhua, a Canadian billionaire citizen born in China, has reportedly been sentenced to 13 years imprisonment by a court in the Chinese city of Shanghai on Friday.
Xian Jianhua who was born in Shandong province in China was very close with several leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. He was even reportedly handling the finances and investments of these leaders in various places.
Along with Xiao Jianhua, Tomorrow Holdings, an investment company owned by Xiao, has also been fined nearly 8.1 billion dollars for unfair trade practices.
Tomorrow Holdings which is trading as Tomorrow Group in China has investments in various sectors such as natural minerals, banking and insurance to name a few.
Xiao Jianhua who disappeared from the public in 2017 was allegedly kidnapped by Chinese security services illegally from Hong Kong.
The Shanghai First Intermediate Court said on Friday in its order that Xiao Jianhua and his company, Tomorrow Holdings illegally siphoned off deposits of the public and betrayed the depositors and public. Xiao is also charged with counts of illegal use of funds and bribery.
The court also pointed out that both the parties had made a serious violation of financial management order, laws, and regulations. It also noted that their actions have severely hurt the state of the economy.
The order also had information regarding how Xiao Jianhua used illegal funds and assets to illegally purchase and bundle up assets, Investments and stakes in various domestic and international companies based in China including prominent financial institutions.
While releasing the punishment order court especially noted that the punishment has been mitigated for both Xiao Jianhua and Tomorrow Holdings as both of them admitted to their mistakes and agreed to assist authorities in retrieving the money.
Xiao Jianhua who started his career by working in tech companies such as IBM and Dell began making huge fortunes by getting close to top leaders in the ruling party of the people’s republic of China.
Xiao Jianhua who was reportedly acting as a personal investment advisor and handler of financial transactions of leaders became the target of another faction of leaders in the party.
Xiao Jianhua who took citizenship in Canada after purchasing private property in the North American country came to know that a detention order was passed against him in China in 2013.
Even though there was no official information from the government regarding his abduction to mainland China, it was very well known within the top tier.
Canadian embassy in Beijing or representatives of Tomorrow Holdings has not so far made any statements or comments regarding the new developments.