Graft trial of ex-banker repatriated by US begins

The first suspect repatriated to the mainland under a Sino-US extradition agreement has gone on trial for corruption in Guangdong.

Yu Zhendong , 42 - the former manager of the Bank of China's Kaiping branch - admitted embezzling 4 billion yuan when he appeared before the Jiangmen Intermediate People's Court, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported yesterday.

'The trial committee is reviewing all the evidence,' a court spokesman said, referring to the court body that is responsible for the verdict.

The FBI returned Yu to Beijing in April last year on the understanding that he would not be tortured or sentenced to more than 12 years in jail. Former attorney-general John Ashcroft earlier handed over US$3.55 million in embezzled money under a Sino-US agreement to fight international crime.

Yu, who arrived in the US in October 2001, was arrested in Los Angeles on immigration charges 14 months later.

The central government, which had spent three years gathering evidence against Yu, made six attempts to persuade him to return to the mainland before he finally agreed to be extradited. As part of the deal, he pleaded guilty to fraud in a Las Vegas court in February last year and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.