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Former Interpol president Meng Hongwei admits taking US$2 million in bribes

  • The ex-chief of the global policing body faces trial in northern China after last being seen in France in September

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Meng Hongwei appears in court on bribery charges in Tianjin on Thursday. Photo: Weibo

A former head of the international policing agency Interpol appeared in court in northern China on Thursday, pleading guilty to taking over 14 million yuan (US$2 million) in bribes, according to state-run People’s Daily.

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In a trial at Tianjin No 1 Intermediate People’s Court, Meng Hongwei, the first person from China to head Interpol, admitted using various positions he held from 2005 to 2017 to help companies and people make illegal gains.

The court adjourned and said Meng would be sentenced at a later date.

The trial comes eight months after the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Communist Party’s anticorruption watchdog, announced that Meng was under investigation.

The CCDI’s statement confirmed the whereabouts of the 65-year-old, who had not been seen since September 25 last year after leaving his home in the French city of Lyon.

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He had sent his wife, Grace Meng, a message on social media telling her to “wait for my call”, along with a knife emoji suggesting he was in some kind of danger.

She reported her husband missing to the French authorities on October 4 and was later put under police protection after receiving threatening messages over the telephone and online. Earlier this year she applied for asylum in France.

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