Fugitive businessman returns to China after 15 years on the run overseas
Former drug company chairman Yan Yongmin, who was on country’s 100 most-wanted list, sent back from New Zealand
A former drug company chairman who was on a list of China’s 100 most-wanted fugitives abroad has returned after 15 years on the run in New Zealand and Australia, the government announced on Saturday.
Yan Yongmin surrendered to police and was returned to China in cooperation with New Zealand authorities, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said. There was no word on what charges he might face.
Yan, former chairman of Tonghua Golden Horse Pharmaceutical Group in the northeastern city of Tonghua, fled to Australia in 2001 after being accused of fraud and embezzlement, according to earlier news reports. He later became a New Zealand citizen under the name William Yan.
Yan was on a Chinese government list of the top 100 fugitives sought abroad in a marathon dragnet known as Skynet. As of July, 33 people on that list had been returned to China, according to the government newspaper China Daily.