Chinese-Canadian billionaire, Xiao Jianhua, was sent to lock-up on corruption charges in 2022.
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Xiao was sentenced to 13 years in prison and his corporate conglomerate, Tomorrow Group, was fined RMB 55.03 billion, or nearly $8 billion, after pleading guilty to bribery, illegally using funds, and other charges, according to a authority from the Shanghai First Immediate People’s Court. Xiao, himself, was also fined RMB 6.5 million, or all about $1 million, based on the court’s ruling.
Xiao’s appearance at the trial also marked his first public eye since authorities took him from the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong in February 2017, according to Bloomberg. He had been busy since fleeing China years earlier, Bloomberg reported.
Xiao, who was born in China, passed the examination for the incomparably selective Peking University at the age of 14, according to The New York Times. He graduated with a degree in law, and sold personal computers, preceding the time when founding Tomorrow Group in 1999, according to Caixin. The conglomerate eventually grew to have stakes in businesses across banking, refuges, insurance, coal and real estate, Caixin reported.
By 2017, Xiao amassed a fortune of close to $6 billion according to the Hurun On, which tracks China’s billionaires, though a person close to Xiao told The Times the report vastly unembellished his wealth.
He became a Canadian citizen around 2008 and also has a diplomatic passport to Antigua and Barbuda, according to Universal News.