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Stuart Lau

One of China’s most wanted fugitives has been arrested at the behest of US authorities, days after he was released following a Chinese extradition hearing in Sweden’s Supreme Court.
Qiao Jianjun, whom Beijing accuses of embezzling millions of dollars, was arrested again on Sunday and remained in police custody near Stockholm.
The arrest stemmed from a number of charges, including money laundering, mounted by the US Department of Justice in 2015, according to Swedish prosecutor Marie Lind Thomsen.
“We received a [US] request for his arrest and [a notice that] we will receive from them a request for his extradition,” she said, confirming Swedish media reports on Monday.




Qiao’s lawyer, Henrik Olsson Lilja, said he would deny all of the US charges and contest the extradition request.
The US embassy in Stockholm did not reply to a request for comment.
Police issued an order for Qiao’s arrest on Sunday and he was detained around lunchtime in the Stockholm district of Racksta. He is being held in a detention centre in Solna, near the capital.
He has been “provisionally arrested” pending a hearing on the extradition request, but no time frame was given.
A spokeswoman for Sweden’s home affairs minister confirmed on Monday that a district court would make a preliminary evaluation of the US extradition request and decide whether Qiao should remain in detention.
The case of Qiao, a former director of a government grain storage facility in the central Chinese province of Hunan, has become an unusual legal battle between China and the US over a criminal suspect held by a third country.

Sweden’s top court “made a preliminary decision not to extradite” Qiao to China on Tuesday last week, according to his lawyer, and he was released the next day, but the court has yet to discuss the case with the government in Stockholm.
Lilja said earlier that mass protests in Hong Kong over an extradition bill with mainland China amid fears fugitives would not get a fair trial there had not gone unnoticed.
“In Sweden we follow all these cases and it is having an impact,” he said. “Many Swedes are talking about the uproar in Hong Kong … and even Supreme Court justices read the papers.”
Qiao is among China’s most wanted corruption suspects in its global hunt for former officials believed to have fled the country with ill-gotten gains.
Qiao had been on the run since November 2011 when he was arrested by Swedish police, acting on a Chinese extradition request, on June 25 last year.
The US’ action on Qiao predates China’s. Californian authorities indicted him in 2015 in his absence on charges of money laundering, immigration fraud and international transport of stolen funds.
“The indictment also alleges that Qiao engaged in fraudulent grain transactions while serving as the grain storehouse director, and Qiao and [his ex-wife] had money transferred out of China, with approximately US$500,000 being used to purchase the Newcastle property [in Washington],” according to a 2015 US court document.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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Corruption in China

Chinese ex-official Qiao Jianjun arrested again in Sweden – this time at request of US

Days after he was released, Qiao Jianjun was arrested again on Sunday and is in police custody near Stockholm. Photo: Handout

China and Sweden - Illustration Photo: Shutterstock

Swedish court’s decision to free Chinese suspect ‘a major setback’ for global fugitive hunt

Qiao Jianjun was arrested by Swedish police a year ago following a request from Beijing. Photo: Handout

***ONE TIME USE ONLY, PLEASE CLEAR THE COPYRIGHTS BEFORE RE-USE - OTUO*** This handout photo taken on June 20, 2019 and released by the Tianjin No.1 Intermediate Court shows former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei (C) during his trial at the court in Tianjin, northern China. - Former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei on June 20 pleaded guilty at a trial in China to accepting 2.1 million USD in bribes -- a remarkable fall from grace for the former vice minister of public security.

Sweden ‘unlikely’ to extradite Chinese fugitive Qiao Jianjun as Supreme Court sets him free

Sweden said on Wednesday it had released Qiao Jianjun, who fled China in 2011. Photo: Shutterstock

M0DJ5M Death penalty in China concept. Judge gavel on China waving flag background. 3d illustration. Photo:Alamy

Protestors march from Causeway Bay to the Government Headquarters in Admiralty, in protest against the extradition bill. The Civil Human Rights Front has estimated that 300,000 residents will join their third mass rally against the bill. 09JUN19 SCMP / Sam Tsang

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Former head of grain storage facility in China will deny all charges, which include money laundering, and contest extradition, his lawyer says
He is one of Beijing’s most wanted corruption suspects, accused of embezzling millions of dollars



Qiao Jianjun, former head of grain storage facility, will deny all charges, which include money laundering, and contest extradition, lawyer says.


Chinese ex-official Qiao Jianjun arrested again in Sweden – this time at request of US

Former head of grain storage facility in China will deny all charges, which include money laundering, and contest extradition, his lawyer says He is one of Beijing’s most wanted corruption suspects, accused of embezzling millions of dollars

Former head of grain storage facility in China will deny all charges, which include money laundering, and contest extradition, his lawyer says

He is one of Beijing’s most wanted corruption suspects, accused of embezzling millions of dollars