Former president of China Citic Bank pleads guilty to accepting 1 billion yuan in bribes
- Sun Deshun, who expressed remorse for accepting payments worth US$155 million, will be sentenced at a later date
- His case is one of the biggest in an ongoing crackdown targeting China’s financial sector, which has seen one executive put to death
Sun Deshun, the president of Citic Bank between 2016 and 2020, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes worth more than 979.5 million yuan (US$155 million) over a 16-year period working for different banks, according to a statement by a court in Shandong province.
Chinese prosecutor fired for ‘asking alleged loan shark’s family for bribe’
The Intermediate People’s Court in Jinan city said that Sun took advantage of his positions to illegally help others to obtain loans and credit lines between 2003 to 2019.
The statement said Sun expressed remorse for his actions. His sentence will be announced at a later date.
His is the second biggest bribery case so far in the anti-corruption drive targeting China’s financial sector.
Sun was detained by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection – the Communist Party’s top anti-corruption agency – in March 2020. Two month later, he was stripped of his party membership and official position, and handed over to the judiciary to face prosecution.
01:35
Death penalty for ‘godfather’ of Chinese coal mining town who took over US$160 million in bribes
Before his downfall, Sun was well-known in China’s financial sector as the only head of a state-owned bank who had started as a teller and worked in other low-level positions before making his way up the corporate ladder.
He featured in a recent anti-corruption documentary produced by the anti-corruption watchdog.
The programme, broadcast last month, said he had used complex company structures to cover the money trail but had refused to accept cash bribes because that was too “low-end”.
The documentary said he had asked two trusted former subordinates to set up two companies as investment vehicles to accept brides from people who had been given huge loans by Sun. These companies were also granted lucrative investment opportunities.
China’s corruption busters signal they plan to make bribe givers pay
The commission said the complexity of Sun’s case was “quite rare” as he had used “layers of companies and complicated deals” to hide his illegal dealings.
The crackdown targeting China’s opaque financial sector has already snared more than 20 senior figures.
01:13
Ex-Interpol chief admits to bribery in China
He was initially detained in September, before being expelled from the Communist Party last month.
