Briefly

Former Yunnan senior political adviser jailed

Huang Yi, former vice-chairman of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was sentenced on Tuesday to 13 years imprisonment for accepting bribes. According to the verdict issued by the First Intermediate People's Court of Chongqing, Huang was also fined 3 million yuan ($416,000). Huang's illegal gains from bribery and the interest it generated will be confiscated and handed over to the State treasury. The court found that, between 2001 and last year, Huang took advantage of his various positions to assist others on matters such as the contracting of construction projects, the approval of business programs and the operation of enterprises. In return, he accepted money and valuables worth over 34.9 million yuan, said the court. Considering the fact that Huang confessed to his crimes during the investigation and was cooperative in returning all his illegal gains, he was granted a lenient sentence, according to the court.

China moves to crack down on tax crimes

China has taken concrete steps to crack down on tax-related crimes, including the use of fake invoices and export-tax rebate fraud, the State Taxation Administration said in a statement. The statement was made after a meeting on Monday that was attended by officials from the STA, the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Supreme People's Court, the General Administration of Customs, the People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. From October 2021 to the end of May this year, relevant government departments investigated 270,000 enterprises that allegedly counterfeited more than 10.4 million invoices, according to the statement. A total tax revenue loss of 11.7 billion yuan ($1.64 billion) was recovered from enterprises involved in false exports that were solely for the purpose of fraudulent tax rebates, it said. The statement said that authorities will work together to curb such crimes nationwide.

Police bust dens for telecom, online fraud

Chinese police have busted over 3,300 criminal dens for telecom and online fraud in a recent campaign, according to the Ministry of Public Security on Tuesday. The campaign, with joint efforts of public security authorities in Shandong, Henan, Hubei and Hunan provinces, has seen a number of criminal suspects arrested. Around 104,000 sets of fraud equipment, including mobile phones and computers, and over 58 million yuan ($8.05 million) in cash and virtual currency were confiscated in the campaign. Since last year, the ministry has launched multiple crackdowns on telecom and cyber fraud and related crimes, in which more than 5,100 dens have been busted. The campaigns have smashed criminal gangs that provide support services, such as money transfer and laundering for overseas fraud groups, and arrested and punished fraud suspects returning to China from overseas and suspects involved in financial fraud in accordance with the law, according to the ministry.

Xinhua