Ex-BOC executives to stand trial

Two former Bank of China branch managers have been charged with embezzling US$485 million with the help of another former bank executive, and will stand trial February 27 in Nevada, state media reported. A grand jury indicted Xu Chaofan and Xu Guojun, the former bosses of the Kaiping BOC branch in South China's Guangdong province, their wives, and another relative on 15 counts of racketeering, money laundering and fraud. They intend to plead not guilty. Xu Guojun was arrested in Kansas in September 2004, while Xu Chaofan was apprehended in Oklahoma the following month.