Chinese-Canadian businessman Xiao Jianhua was given a 13-year prison term

• Chinese-Canadian businessman Xiao Jianhua was given a 13-year prison term
• More than five years after the Chinese-Canadian tycoon Xiao Jianhua was kidnapped from a hotel room in Hong Kong and brought to mainland China,
• Additionally, the court imposed 6.5 million yuan ($950,000) and 55 billion yuan ($8.1 billion) fines on Xiao and Tomorrow Holdings.

More than five years after the Chinese-Canadian tycoon Xiao Jianhua was kidnapped from a hotel room in Hong Kong and brought to mainland China, the millionaire was sentenced on Friday to 13 years in jail.

According to a statement from the Shanghai First Intermediate Court, Xiao and his company Tomorrow Holdings were found guilty of offenses totaling tens of billions of dollars, including illegally absorbing public deposits, betraying the use of entrusted property, and illegal use of funds, and bribery.

Additionally, the court imposed 6.5 million yuan ($950,000) and 55 billion yuan ($8.1 billion) fines on Xiao and Tomorrow Holdings.

“The criminal conduct of Tomorrow Holdings and Xiao Jianhua should be severely punished according to law,” the court ruled. “They gravely undermined the financial management order, significantly jeopardized the country’s financial security, and seriously infringed on the integrity of the state personnel.”

However, it also stated that Xiao and Tomorrow Holdings are eligible for a lighter sentence because they “turned themselves in, admitted their crimes, and aided with the recovery of assets.”

One of the wealthiest people in China, Xiao was in charge of the Tomorrow Group, a sizable holding firm with interests in banks, insurance, and real estate developers. Hurun, a company that studies Chinese wealth, reported that Xiao had a net worth of $6 billion and was rated 32nd on its 2016 wealthy list, which is comparable to the Forbes list.

The court found that between 1998 and 2021, Xiao and Tomorrow Holdings transferred government officials’ shares, real estate, cash, and other assets totaling almost $100 million.

Xiao, who was known for his tight ties to some of China’s most influential political families, was transferred to mainland China in 2017 after being apprehended by Chinese security personnel in his room at the Four Seasons hotel in Hong Kong.

According to a source acquainted with the kidnapping, Xiao’s personal security detail, which generally consisted of eight bodyguards per shift, and the two dozen Chinese security personnel present at the hotel got into a minor altercation. Due to the politically delicate nature of the situation, the source requested anonymity. Since the event, Xiao has not been seen in public.

During Xi’s campaign against corporate excess, a number of Chinese businessmen relocated to Hong Kong and set up homes in private apartments at the five-star Four Seasons hotel. Xiao was one of them.

The sudden abduction of Xiao shocked Hong Kong’s affluent business world, who took it as a sign that the city was now under the control of the security apparatus on the mainland.

The Canadian Embassy in Beijing informed the source last month that Canadian citizen Xiao’s trial will take place without consular access. “Canada requested multiple times to be allowed to watch Mr. Xiao Jianhua’s trial proceedings. Chinese officials declined to permit our attendance “explained the embassy.

Xiao holds Chinese citizenship, according to a representative for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and because China does not recognize dual citizenship, Xiao is not eligible for consular protection from another nation.

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