The first person extradited by the State Supervision Commission received a light sentence for active cooperation and voluntary return of stolen goods
Combination of mercy and strict warning
On August 27, the Intermediate People’s Court of Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province publicly sentenced Yao Jinqi, a “Hongtong officer,” to a six-year imprisonment and fined RMB 3 million in the bribery case of Yao Jinqi. The fruits shall be recovered according to law. Yao Jinqi said in court that he would obey the judgment and would not appeal.
Yao Jinqi is the first successful extradition case after the establishment of the State Supervision Commission, and it is also the first time that my country has extradited a national employee suspected of duty crime from an EU member state. Because Yao Jinqi actively cooperated in the extradition process, truthfully explained the facts of the case, and voluntarily returned all the stolen money and its fruits, he was given a reduced punishment in accordance with the law. This result once again made it clear that the only way out is to return to the case as soon as possible and seek leniency for the escaped.
Three-level chasing agencies formed a joint force, and the extradition took only 44 days for 13 years
Yao Jinqi, male, born in 1956, was the former executive deputy head of Xinchang County, Zhejiang Province. He was suspected of using his position to receive huge amounts of property from others. In December 2005, Yao Jinqi fled in a hurry with a false ID. In 13 years, he moved to the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cuba, Colombia, Bulgaria and other countries.
After the enforcement of the Supervision Law and the establishment of supervisory committees at all levels, the discipline inspection and supervision organs became the organs for the pursuit of escape and stolen goods. In June 2018, with the coordination of the Zhejiang Escape Pursuit Office and the cooperation of the provincial and municipal public security organs, the Shaoxing Escape Pursuit Office found out Yao Jinqi’s fleeing identity and hidden location. The Zhejiang Fleeing Office urgently coordinated the prosecution, public security and other departments, through the Ministry of Public Security, asked the International Criminal Police Organization to issue a red arrest warrant, and at the same time in-depth investigation of the criminal facts, perfect and fix relevant evidence.
On October 17, 2018, Bulgarian police arrested Yao Jinqi in Sofia, the capital of the country, under a red arrest warrant, and temporarily detained him on the 19th of the same month at the request of my country’s State Supervision Commission. In order to speed up the extradition procedure, the State Supervision Commission and the Zhejiang Provincial Supervisory Commission quickly coordinated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security to carry out various aspects of work, organized special personnel to study the extradition laws of the two countries, and sent working groups to Bulgaria for three times to meet with relevant departments and request the Bulgarian side Cancelled Yao Jinqi's long-term residence permit and naturalization application in Bulgaria, persuaded Yao Jinqi to obtain his letter of intent to surrender and overcome multiple difficulties such as repeated thoughts, and successfully carried out simplified extradition cooperation. At the same time, the Central Office of Escape Pursuit and Escape Pursuit of Zhejiang Province convened special task force personnel from the Office of Escape Pursuit of Zhejiang Province to Beijing for a centralized office, and completed the collection of key evidence that meets the extradition requirements, drafting of the extradition request, and translation in English and Chinese in the shortest time. jobs.
On November 30, 2018, Yao Jinqi was successfully extradited back to China under the coordination of the Central Office of Escape Pursuit. After being brought back to the case, Yao Jinqi confessed to the facts of the crime of accepting bribes in addition to the facts of the crime of accepting bribes of RMB 1.425 million that he had obtained.
"From the issuance of a red wanted order against Yao Jinqi through Interpol to his extradition to return to China, it took less than two months to complete the extradition legal process, which usually takes months or even years. This successful practice reflects recent years. Actively carry out the effectiveness of anti-corruption international cooperation." The relevant person in charge of the Zhejiang Provincial Supervision Commission introduced.
Cooperating with extradition, taking the initiative to return the spoils, and stubbornly resisting delusions, in sharp contrast to punishment
The Shaoxing Intermediate People’s Court held two public hearings on the Yao Jinqi bribery case on July 5, 2019 and April 3, 2020. Based on the facts, nature, and circumstances of the crime, in accordance with the Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law, China Insurance Extradition Treaty and Relevant international conventions stipulate that timely, open, fair and impartial trials have fully protected Yao Jinqi's legal rights to know, defense and other litigation rights and humane treatment. During the trial and sentencing, more than 100 people including representatives of the National People's Congress, CPPCC members, media reporters and people from all walks of life participated in the audit.
After investigation, it was found that from 1991 to 2005, Yao Jinqi used his positions as Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Changzhao Reservoir Administration Bureau of Xinchang County, Zhejiang Province, Member of the Standing Committee of the Xinchang County Party Committee, and Deputy County Mayor to facilitate the transformation of relevant units and individuals in the enterprise. Seeking benefits in fund turnover, project development and other matters, directly or through others illegally accepting property from related personnel, with a total value of RMB 52,210,54 million.
The Shaoxing Intermediate People's Court held that Yao Jinqi, as a national worker, used the convenience of his position to seek benefits for others, and received illegally or directly or through others. The amount was extremely large, and his behavior constituted the crime of accepting bribes.
In view of the fact that Yao Jinqi voluntarily returned to China for investigation during the "Announcement on Urging Overseas Fleeing Persons to Surrender in Duty Crime Cases" jointly issued by the State Supervision Commission and the Supreme People's Court and other five ministries and commissions, he actively cooperated in completing the extradition and truthfully explained the facts of the bribery in the whole case. It is regarded as surrendering; the report and exposing the crime of another person has been verified to be true and has meritorious performance; the bribes and stolen goods and their fruits have been fully recovered or returned by relatives, so the punishment is mitigated in accordance with the law. Then the aforementioned judgment was made.
During the extradition process, Yao Jinqi proactively expressed his willingness to return to China and actively cooperated with the extradition process. The extradition was successful in just over a month, and he took the initiative to return all the stolen money and its fruits, so that the punishment was significantly reduced below the legal penalty. However, a small number of people who fled resolutely resisted extradition, which caused the country to expend huge manpower, material and financial resources, and was severely punished by law.
"Hongtong personnel" Huang Haiyong is such an example. Huang Haiyong fled in August 1998 and was found and arrested in Peru in 2008. After my country submitted an extradition request to Peru, Huang Haiyong appealed nearly 20 times and exhausted all judicial procedures to fight extradition. After eight years of unremitting efforts by various departments in our country, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has finally promoted the approval of extradition in accordance with the judgment of the American Convention on Human Rights. On July 17, 2016, Huang Haiyong was extradited back to China. In the end, he was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, which is the legal maximum sentence for unit smuggling.
Combination of mercy and strictness is our country's consistent policy of punishing crimes, and it is no exception in the work of pursuing escaped and stolen goods. From the "one person, one plan" of chasing and fleeing to the follow-up "one person with a certain sentence and one person with one sentence", it all embodies both leniency and strictness. Yao Jinqi and Huang Haiyong, due to different circumstances such as returning to China and surrendering the case, have a sharp contrast in the punishment, which demonstrates the rule of law thinking and way of punishing crimes in accordance with the law.
As far as the fugitives of job-related crimes are concerned, the "facts" of both leniency and strictness are in front of them. The only correct choice is to return to China and surrender, actively return the stolen goods, and confess the crime.
The resources for handling escaped and stolen property cases have been further integrated, and the level of legalization of international anti-corruption cooperation has been continuously improved
The key cases of anti-corruption international chasing and recovering stolen goods mostly involve diplomacy, anti-corruption, police, procuratorial, judicial, financial, anti-money laundering and other fields, which cannot be done independently by any single department. Take Yao Jinqi as an example. It took only 44 days from his arrest to his extradition to return to China. This is unimaginable when a single department "fights each other." Yao Jinqi's successful extradition and acceptance of legal sanctions is a vivid epitome of the reform of the national supervisory system that has integrated all anti-corruption forces to the maximum extent and turned institutional advantages into governance effectiveness.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the central government has increased its unified leadership over anti-corruption work, vigorously integrated the resources of relevant departments, greatly improved efficiency, and effectively promoted breakthroughs in cases. Especially after the establishment of the National Supervisory Commission, major changes have taken place in the system and mechanism for the pursuit of stolen stolen goods. The party’s unified leadership over anti-corruption work has been further strengthened, resources for handling stolen stolen goods and stolen goods have been further integrated, and the overall working mechanism has become clearer. The "Supervision Law of the People's Republic of China" further clarifies the responsibility of the State Supervision Commission in organizing, coordinating, and supervising the implementation of anti-corruption efforts in international anti-corruption and anti-evasion work. As a result, the Central Office for Escape Pursuits has made a smoother and more effective mechanism for coordinating various departments to actively perform responsibilities related to anti-corruption international cooperation.
The Supervision Law empowers the State Supervision Commission to organize and coordinate relevant parties to strengthen cooperation with relevant countries, regions, and international organizations in the fields of anti-corruption law enforcement, extradition, and judicial assistance. As the first extradition case after the establishment of the State Supervision Commission, Yao Jinqi was extradited back to China, which provided a vivid footnote to the further improvement of the rule of law in my country's anti-corruption international cooperation.
With the further deepening of the reform of the supervision system, the legal weapons and procedures for the supervisory organs to pursue and recover stolen goods are improved and the procedures are more standardized. In addition to persuading repatriation, more methods such as extradition, prosecution in other places and repatriation are used. .
According to statistics, from the establishment of the State Supervision Commission in March 2018 to June 2020, a total of 3,848 escaped persons were recovered across the country, including 1,306 party members and state officials, 116 "red-pass personnel", and "100 red-pass personnel". Eight people recovered 9.911 billion yuan in stolen money. Both the number of people recovered and the amount of stolen stolen goods increased significantly year-on-year. The institutional advantages formed by the reform were further transformed into governance efficiency in the field of stolen stolen goods recovery.
While vigorously advancing the key cases of fleeing and recovering stolen goods, the Central Office for Escape Pursuits also attaches great importance to anti-escape work. All new surveillance targets are included in the anti-escape system to achieve full coverage of anti-escape work and no dead ends, and to add new party members and countries fled The number of staff has decreased significantly, from 101 in 2014 to 31 in 2015, 19 in 2016, 4 in 2017, 9 in 2018, and 4 in 2019, effectively curbing the spread of flight.
As long as one person is still at large, the Anti-Corruption International will never accept troops in the pursuit of stolen goods. (Our reporter Li Yunshu)