Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and State Supervision Commission website Han Yadong
On August 11, 2020, Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People's Court opened a public hearing on the case of bribery, corruption and bigamy of Lai Xiaomin, the former chairman of China Huarong Asset Management Co., Ltd. The picture shows the court hearing. (Profile picture)
On August 11, 2020, Lai Xiaomin, the former chairman of China Huarong Asset Management Co., Ltd., stood in the dock.
On the same day, the Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People's Court opened a public hearing on the case of bribery, corruption, and bigamy of Lai Xiaomin, the former chairman of Huarong Company. The indictment against Lai Xiaomin alleged that from 2008 to 2018, the defendant Lai Xiaomin directly or through others solicited and illegally received property given by relevant units and individuals, which was equivalent to more than 1.788 billion yuan, of which more than 104 million yuan had not yet been received. In addition, Lai Xiaomin also used the convenience of his position to cooperate with others to illegally occupy public funds totaling 25.13 million yuan.
It is understood that up to now, nearly 1.7 billion yuan of property involved in the Lai Xiaomin case has been recovered, and the remaining funds are being recovered due to other ongoing cases.
What are Lai Xiaomin’s huge corrupt assets?
From the review and investigation to the trial of the case, Lai Xiaomin's case has attracted much attention.
On April 17, 2018, the website of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection released: Lai Xiaomin, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Huarong Asset Management Co., Ltd., is personally suspected of serious violations of discipline and law, and is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervision and investigation. On October 15, 2018, Lai Xiaomin was announced to be expelled from the party and public office.
"We have also handled many cases in the financial field, but they are not as shocking as the amount, degree of harm, criminal circumstances, and criminal methods of violations of discipline and law that Lai Xiao found out after civil affairs." January 2020, The TV feature film "National Supervision" disclosed the investigation and handling of Lai Xiaomin's case: "The final amount of his illegal income still needs to be determined by the judicial organs, but it will undoubtedly be a shocking figure."
According to the "Interim Regulations on the Management of the Funds and Property Involved in the Investigation and Handling of Cases by the Disciplinary Inspection Organization of the Communist Party of China," the so-called money and property involved in the case refer to the money and property that can prove violations of discipline and law and the proceeds of violation of discipline and law, including cash, securities, payment vouchers, Real estate, gold and silver jewelry, cultural relics and antiques, calligraphy and painting, furniture, electrical appliances, vehicles, communication tools, etc.
The feature film "National Supervision" disclosed that Lai Xiaomin hid stolen money in a house in a certain district in Beijing, which he called a "supermarket." Lai Xiaomin actually received more than 1.7 billion yuan of property involved in the case, not all of the huge amounts of cash hidden in his so-called "supermarket", and their composition is diverse. In addition to cash, it also includes a large number of real estate, equity, valuable calligraphy and painting, high-end cars, gold products, famous watches, jewelry, etc. According to Li Yanru, deputy head of the Disciplinary Inspection and Supervision Group of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, during the investigation, the review team seized a large amount of domestic and foreign currency cash, gold and silver products, calligraphy and painting, cars, shopping cards and other items, and frozen banks and securities. , Fund accounts, seized Lai Xiaomin's multiple real estate properties and parking spaces in Beijing, Zhuhai, Hainan and other places.
"These'property' without exception are important evidence and qualitative basis for Lai Xiaomin's conviction and sentencing. The pursuit of the property involved in the case also reflects our party's clear attitude towards zero tolerance for corruption." Li Yanru said.
According to the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate’s “Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Corruption and Bribery”, “property” in bribery crimes includes currency, goods, and property interests. Property benefits include material benefits that can be converted into currency, such as house renovation, debt relief, etc., and other benefits that need to be paid for currency such as membership services, travel, etc.
Article 15 of the Supervision Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates six types of supervision objects. As the party secretary and chairman of China Huarong Asset Management Co., Ltd., Lai Xiaomin is a manager of state-owned enterprises. According to Chen Qingpu, deputy director of the Cadre Supervision Office of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, analyzed that finance is the blood of the modern economy, and the financial sector is capital-intensive and resource-rich. As the “top leader” of a state-owned financial enterprise, Lai Xiaomin himself holds a large number of financial resources and has concentrated power. In the absence of effective supervision, he has obtained huge amounts of illegal benefits. Lai Xiaomin's personal extreme greed and ignorance of party discipline and state laws are also an important factor in the formation of huge amounts of corruption.
"The amount of money and money involved in the Lai Xiaomin case is shocking. This shows that the current situation of the anti-corruption struggle in the financial sector is still severe and complex, and the task of preventing and dissolving financial risks is still very arduous. There is a long way to go. Disciplinary inspection and supervision organs strictly investigated and dealt with the case in accordance with regulations, disciplines and laws, and released the Party Central Committee’s firm determination that corruption and corruption must be suppressed. No matter who is involved, no matter the amount of money involved, as long as the party disciplines and national laws are violated. We will conduct an investigation to the end, and will never tolerate it." said Li Xinran, head of the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Group of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
In addition to cash, Lai Xiaomin received a large number of real estate, equity, valuable calligraphy and painting, high-end cars, gold products, famous watches, jewelry, etc. The picture shows the property involved in Lai Xiaomin. (Picture source: "National Supervision" video screenshot)
Fully recover the property involved in the case and recover the loss to the greatest extent
Discipline inspection and supervision organs insist on investigating the illegal income and illegal income together, and pursue the illegal interests and national losses together, and strive to pursue all the necessary and return the particles to the warehouse.
"If we only find out the facts when we open a case, but fail to recover the economic losses for the country and the collective, it cannot be regarded as a successful case, and the people will be dissatisfied. It may also cause corrupt elements to "sacrifice me and make the whole family happy." 'The fluke mentality.' Li Yanru said.
Disciplinary inspection and supervision agencies deal with violations of discipline in accordance with internal party regulations such as the "Chinese Communist Party Disciplinary Measures Regulations", "Chinese Communist Party Disciplinary Inspection Organization Supervision and Discipline Work Rules" and other national laws and regulations such as the "People's Republic of China Supervision Law" and "Supervisory Organization Supervision and Enforcement Work Regulations" Illegal income. The property under investigation shall be confiscated, ordered to be refunded, or registered and turned over in accordance with the rules and regulations and laws and regulations, and shall be transferred to the judicial organs along with the case. In recent years, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission have successively formulated and issued the "Operational Regulations for the Management of Property Involved in the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection", the Regulations on the Use of Supervision, Inspection and Investigation Measures by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate in handling duty crime cases Work Convergence Measures, etc., detail the seizure, transfer, custody, disposal, supervision and management of the property involved in the case, and strictly regulate the entire work process.
"The property involved in the case generally includes large amounts of cash, valuables, bank cards, passbooks, bills, contracts, real estate, cars, precious metals, jade, calligraphy and painting, etc., and the forms of the disciplinary inspection and supervision agencies are different." Li Yanru introduced. Four common methods of recovery: One is direct collection. All the money, bank cards, financial products, etc. received by the corrupt elements will be transferred with the case after communication and negotiation with the judiciary. The second is auction recovery. For vehicles, furniture, precious metals, calligraphy and painting cultural relics, large-scale ornaments, etc., please professional institutions to appraise, and transfer the money according to the appraisal price. For circulated and realizable items, auction disposal is carried out, auction houses or third-party platforms with third-level or higher qualification are entrusted to auction, and the proceeds are turned over to the state treasury. The third is to urge the refund. For the property involved in the case that has not been turned in in full, the person, relatives, and related persons involved in the case shall be repaid in full through ideological education requirements or ordered. The fourth is to recover losses. In the process of investigating the case, if it is discovered that party members and cadres have received property through the influence of their positions and caused economic losses to the country at the same time, they must be traced to the end and the relevant departments must be urged and instructed to recover the economic losses.
The Lai Xiaomin case involved a large number and variety of property. According to the Lai Xiaomin case team, during the review and investigation, the review team conducted searches of Lai Xiaomin’s office, residences, and property hiding places and other places involved in the case. The cash, valuables, real estate, Documents and materials were seized and seized, and relevant bank, securities, and insurance accounts were inquired and frozen. Some items that are inconvenient to transport, preserve, and need to be further verified are sealed in place. During the review period, relevant persons involved in the case voluntarily handed in part of the property involved in the case. The review team has made every effort to recover stolen goods, strengthened coordination and communication with the public security organs, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and Huarong Company, and took multiple measures to realize and recover assets and funds. Up to now, nearly 1.7 billion yuan of property involved in the Lai Xiaomin case has been recovered, and the remaining funds are being recovered due to other ongoing cases.
Disciplinary inspection and supervision organs shall hand over the seized, detained, and frozen property of Lai Xiaomin's criminal proceeds to the judicial organs for handling in accordance with the law; if the proceeds are obtained in violation of disciplines and laws, the discipline inspection and supervision organs shall seize them in accordance with the law and turn them over to the state treasury.
Promote financial anti-corruption with the concept of "three noes"
Corruption in the financial sector is often intertwined with financial market risks. Once improperly handled, it can easily induce systemic risks and pose a great threat to financial security. "Anti-corruption in the financial sector must be precisely bombed, and we must strictly prevent secondary risks in financial anti-corruption. With the direct leadership of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission and the full support of the Party Committee of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, we followed the'three nos' in the investigation of Lai Xiaomin's case. The idea of integrated advancement, insisting on the five aspects of finding out the facts, recovering damages, preventing and controlling risks, filling loopholes, and reshaping the ecology, has maintained the purity of the party team and the seriousness of discipline and law. It also helps prevent and defuse financial risks, and reflects the organic unity of political effects, disciplinary effects and social effects." Li Xinran said.
The Lai Xiaomin case exposed the system and regulatory loopholes in the financial sector. It warned that supervision must be strengthened, especially the supervision of the “top leaders” of state-owned financial enterprises, and the power should be truly locked in the cage of the system.
Aiming at the characteristics of “top leader” committing crimes, insider crimes, and gang-style crimes in Lai Xiaomin’s series of cases, the Disciplinary Inspection and Supervision Team of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission in-depth searched for corruption hidden behind financial risks, and made use of the regulatory powers of financial regulatory authorities, management power of state-owned financial institutions, The right to allocate credit resources, the right to review and approve major projects, and other corrupt elements who use their power for personal gain, rely on enterprises to eat enterprises, and harm the public and gain private interests, are seriously and decisively investigated and dealt with. The disciplinary inspection and supervision team also instructed Huarong to use the clues of relevant issues exposed in Lai Xiaomin's series of cases, focusing on the "top leaders" at all levels, and investigate and handle a number of cases, to curb the unhealthy trends of internal public relations and gifts, and to correct the stubborn diseases of greed for pleasure.
On the day that Lai Xiaomin accepted the review and investigation, the party committee of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission appointed the new party secretary of Huarong Company, and then adjusted the secretary of the Disciplinary Committee of Huarong Company. The new party committee and disciplinary committee of Huarong Company fully fulfilled the main responsibility and supervision responsibility, issued and implemented a comprehensive and strict management of the party main responsibility list, studied and formulated implementation opinions to eliminate Lai Xiaomin drug abuse, continued to carry out multiple rounds of warning education activities, and effectively strengthened supervision and case investigation. Build an anti-corruption work pattern featuring “party committee leadership, disciplinary committee assistance, department promotion, and systematic implementation”, resolutely eliminate the adverse effects of Lai Xiaomin’s drug abuse and the series of cases involving Wang Pinghua, Guo Jintong, and Baihui Hui, and promote the improvement of the party’s work style.
According to regulations, state-owned enterprises must go to the party committee to make collective decisions on the "three important and one great" issues. However, Lai Xiaomin often decides directly on his own. Even when he goes to the meeting, he is arbitrary and does not listen to any objections. He treats state-owned enterprises as his private domain. In this regard, Huarong used the case of Lai Xiaomin as a lesson, standardized the rules of procedure of party committees at all levels, cleared up 75 various working leading groups and decision-making bodies of unincorporated governance entities, and resolutely rectified the phenomenon of "one speech" and illegal decision-making issues; regulated all levels of the company The Party Committee and the Disciplinary Committee request instructions and report management regulations to prevent the recurrence of problems such as flexibility, discounting, unauthorized decision-making, and cutting off before playing. Huarong has also integrated the financial anti-corruption mechanism into the construction of corporate governance and internal control mechanisms, embedding relevant integrity requirements into the entire project business process, tightening the institutional cage to prevent the transfer of benefits, and improving the level of financial governance.
The Lai Xiaomin case not only revealed that the internal supervision of Huarong Company was useless before, but also reflected the obvious shortcomings of external supervision. The Disciplinary Inspection and Supervision Team of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission urges the functional departments of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission to strengthen regulatory process reengineering and coordinated supervision to reduce regulatory blind spots and vacuums, and improve regulatory effectiveness. Supervise and urge the improvement of industry governance, promptly revise the "Regulations on Financial Asset Management Companies," and the Banking Supervision and Administration Law, etc., improve the legal basis for industry development and daily supervision, and promote the formation of a good modern corporate governance system for management institutions.