Fugitive used forgers to produce 'revelations', police say

Guo Wengui, one of China's most wanted fugitives, is alleged to have put two people up to forging national-level official documents that were used in so-called revelations online as a way to seek political asylum in the United States, Chinese police said on Monday.

Guo, 51, fled China after being accused of multiple crimes in 2014. He is currently in the US and listed on an Interpol red notice, a high-level alert for those wanted for extradition.

Since August 2017, Guo incited suspects Chen Zhiyu, 41, and his twin brother, Chen Zhiheng, to forge over 30 national-level official documents containing "top-secret" and "confidential" materials claimed to be issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the State Council and relevant ministries and commissions, Chongqing Public Security Bureau said in a case briefing in Chongqing on Monday afternoon.

The twins were arrested in China on Feb 18 and have confessed to the crimes of forging the documents, the police said. Police have now begun criminal proceedings against them on the charges of forging State government documents.

What Guo and the twins did significantly undermines China's national security, police said. By spreading the documents on overseas media platforms, they deliberately damaged China's image, misled the public and caused extremely negative effects, officials said.

On Oct 5, 2017, Guo unveiled a "secret Chinese government document" on secretly dispatching Chinese police officers to the US on field duty in Washington, DC, that he claimed to have been verified "genuine" by US government agencies.

On Jan 2, a US-based website called the Washington Free Beacon revealed a document on China's decision on in-depth solutions to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear issue. The website claimed the document was an "internal Chinese government document". The documents attracted keen interest in the media and the close attention of the US State Department, according to the police.

Governmental departments in China have evaluated and identified all those documents as forgeries. The Ministry of Public Security assigned the Chongqing Public Security Bureau to investigate.

According to that investigation, the twins saw an opportunity for profit after Guo publicly offered rewards for so-called confidential documents of the Chinese government in May 2017. The pair then contacted Guo. After several interactions, Guo was convinced that Chen Zhiyu was capable of forging government documents, so Guo started working with him in August 2017.

They agreed that a $4,000 monthly salary would be paid to Chen Zhiyu, who would work full time to provide needed materials for Guo's "revelation". Guo would cover Chen's travel expenses and fees to purchase mobile phones, and promised to contribute $50 million to set up a fund at Chen's disposal. At Guo's invitation, Chen Zhiyu met with Guo and his assistants in the US four times.

Guo set out topics or themes for the forged documents. Chen Zhiyu, who is familiar with drafting documents and formulating specifications because of his previous experience in national governmental agencies, then drafted the documents, police said.

Chen Zhiyu sent the encrypted documents to Chen Zhiheng. Chen Zhiheng, who has expertise in computer science, edited and processed document headers and official seals downloaded from the internet and applied them to the forged official documents, police said.

It is also found that Guo and the twins fabricated information about multiple central-level leaders and several provincial or ministerial-level leaders regarding mistresses, illegitimate children born overseas, illegally possessed properties and enormous amounts in deposits, investigators said.

The case is still undergoing investigation, and authorities will continue to release updates on developments, the police added.

Contact the writers at cuijia@chinadaily.com.cn