Exclusive | Chinese tycoon Xiao Jianhua, missing for 15 months since vanishing in Hong Kong, ‘could face trial by June’
Tomorrow Group founder may receive lighter treatment for cooperating with China’s crackdown on ‘big crocodiles’
Xiao Jianhua, the mysterious Chinese tycoon who vanished from a luxury Hong Kong hotel over the Lunar New Year weekend in January 2017, is likely to face trial at a Chinese court in May or June, sources in Beijing and Hong Kong have told the South China Morning Post.
If confirmed, it would resolve some of the uncertainty surrounding Xiao, who had built a business empire in China’s underdeveloped capital markets before falling victim to Beijing’s crackdown on oligarchs, nicknamed “big crocodiles”.
“The investigation stage is done and the case has moved to the judicial department,” a Beijing-based source, who declined to be named, told the Post. “The trial could take place very soon.”
A source in Hong Kong, who requested anonymity but has been involved in Xiao’s business deals for a number of years, said Xiao could stand trial before the end of June.
The specific charges Xiao will face remains unknown, but both sources said they would not be as serious as those against Wu Xiaohui, the former chairman of Anbang Insurance Group.