China’s most-wanted man sentenced to life in prison

Before fleeing to Canada he lived a life of luxury in China complete with a
bulletproof Mercedes Benz. He is alleged to have run a mansion in which he
plied officials with liquor and prostitutes.

At the time, state TV splashed pictures of the network’s allegedly ill-gotten
gains: a tiger skin rug laid out on a conference table, confiscated cars
belonging to corrupt bureaucrats, a sack of gold rings, and a picture of a
young woman, said to be a lover kept for one official by Lai.

Scores of officials and executives involved have been imprisoned and some
executed over the scandal. Among those punished were a former deputy police
minister, who was quietly removed from his posts as vice minister for public
security and deputy chief of an anti-smuggling task force. The deputy mayor
of Xiamen and the city’s customs chief were also punished.

In Canada, Lai had avoided deportation by arguing he could face the death
penalty or be tortured and would not get a fair trial in his home country.

But that legal battle ended in July when a federal court in Vancouver ruled
Lai should not be considered a refugee and upheld his deportation.

China promised Canada that Lai would not get the death penalty in 2001 when
then-President Jiang Zemin sent the Canadian prime minister at the time,
Jean Chretien, a diplomatic note with assurances Lai would not be executed
if returned.

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