Former BoC managers sentenced for racketeering

Two former Bank of China (BoC) managers and their wives received jail sentences Wednesday for a long-running scheme to steal US$485 million from the bank and launder it through Las Vegas casinos and US bank accounts, the Las Vegas Sun reported. US District BoC managers Xu Chaofan, and Xu Guojun were both sentenced to over 20 years in prison. Their wives, Kuang Wanfang and Yu Yingyi were both sentenced to eight years in prison. All four were ordered to pay US$482 million in restitution. The scheme began in 1991 and involved a complex strategy including Hong Kong shell companies, sham marriages to US citizens, and making US$80,000 bets in the casinos. The US case was faciliated by the cooperation of another participant in the scheme, former bank manager Yu Zhendong, who pled guilty to the charges and voluntarily returned to China, where he was convicted of embezzlement.