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4 years' jail after decade on run for money launderer

The fugitive who returned to Hong Kong to face money-laundering charges after a decade avoiding justice in Canada was jailed for four years yesterday.

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District Court Judge Kwok Wai-kin suggested Kwong Wa-po's return came 10 years too late to be regarded as cooperation.

The fugitive who returned to Hong Kong to face money-laundering charges after a decade avoiding justice in Canada was jailed for four years yesterday.

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District Court Judge Kwok Wai-kin suggested Kwong Wa-po's return came 10 years too late to be regarded as cooperation.

Kwok said the fact that the defendant was stopped upon arrival at Chek Lap Kok in 2011 demonstrated that the Immigration Department had spent 10 years on alert for him.

Kwong, 50, had pleaded guilty to laundering HK$278 million for Xu Chaofan, Yu Zhendong and Xu Guojun, who reportedly embezzled billions of dollars when holding senior posts at the Bank of China's Kaiping branch in the '90s. It has been described as one of the biggest fraud cases in China's history.

Kwong's defence lawyer Koo Yeuk Lan previously told the court that her client helped the bankers arrange loans and debt payments with casinos in Macau, Australia and America. In return, he received sums of HK$100,000 to HK$200,000 per month.

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The case came to light in 2001, resulting in the three bankers fleeing to Canada, followed by Kwong. Xu Chaofan and Xu Guojun were sentenced to 25 and 22 years in jail, respectively, in the US in 2009, while Yu was given a 12-year jail term after being extradited to mainland China in 2004.

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