Chinese billionaire sentenced 7 months by US federal court for illegal political donations and fraud
- Now facing deportation, Qin Hui decried for ‘brazen flouting’ in case said to involve campaign contributions to New York city mayor and US congressman
- Tycoon was listed in Forbes as worth US$1.8 billion in 2018 and operated now-defunct Hong Kong-based entertainment entity
A Chinese billionaire was sentenced to seven months in prison on Thursday by a federal court in New York for making shadow political donations as well as committing immigration fraud and using false identification.
Qin Hui – whom Forbes magazine said was worth US$1.8 billion in 2018 and who operated a now defunct Hong Kong-based entertainment entity called SMI Culture – pleaded guilty to the charges in March.
The tycoon will receive credit for the seven months he spent in jail following his arrest in early October at an apartment he kept in Manhattan’s iconic Plaza Hotel. He faces immediate deportation.
“Qin’s brazen flouting of our political and immigration systems and his defrauding government agencies resulted in a felony conviction, prison sentence and today, his removal from the United States,” said Breon Peace, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, the federal court that heard the case.
“Qin has learned a lesson in American civics the hard way, that no one is above the law.”
As outlined in court documents and the plea proceeding, Qin, 56, agreed to reimburse other individuals who made US campaign contributions on his behalf in 2020 and 2021.
