Anbang’s ex-chief on trial for fraud and embezzling US$12b as China cracks down on freewheelers
Anbang Group’s former chairman Wu Xiaohui contested all the charges against him that could carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment
Wu Xiaohui, the former car insurance salesman who turned Anbang Group into one of China’s biggest insurers and largest asset buyers, has been put on trial in Shanghai, the first of the nation’s major entrepreneurs to be prosecuted in a government crackdown on freewheeling deal makers.
Wu, who was removed from his post as Anbang chairman by the Chinese insurance regulator on February 23, appeared at the No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court in Shanghai, according to a live telecast of the proceedings via China’s Weibo social network.
He has been charged with illegal fundraising, fraud valued at US$10.4 billion, and embezzling US$1.6 billion from Anbang’s insurance premium income, which severely damaged “the safety of investors’ capital,” and “crushed national financial security,” according to the prosecutor.
Wu has contested all the charges and is defending himself. The one-day trial, which started at 10am and ended at 7pm, could take up to three months before delivering a verdict, according to the norms of China’s public trials.
Wu appeared in court in a suit, with more than 50 people in attendance, including his family members, delegates from the legislature the National People’s Congress and the media, according to the Weibo report.
Outside the courthouse in the city’s Changning district, security was lax, with overseas and local reporters gathering to await the trial’s verdict.