Former ICBC Anti-Graft Chief Charged With Taking ‘Huge’ Bribes

Liu Lixian, a former anti-graft chief at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC), has been charged with bribery, as announced by China’s top prosecutorial office [para. 1]. Now aged 69, Liu stands accused of accepting a “huge amount” of bribes in exchange for securing benefits for others. However, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) has not disclosed the specific value of these bribes [para. 2].

In addition to his role at ICBC, Liu is also alleged to have abused his power during his tenure as executive vice president at the predecessor of China Huarong Asset Management Co. Ltd., a state-owned bad-asset manager that has been involved in numerous scandals. He also allegedly abused his role while working for the SPP [para. 3]. Over recent years, multiple executives at ICBC, which is the world’s largest bank by assets, have been the subjects of corruption probes [para. 4]. This includes Gu Jiangang, a former asset management chief, and Qiu Shijie, a vice president of the bank’s Hubei provincial branch. Both individuals, along with Liu, were placed under investigation last fall [para. 4].

In January, Liu was expelled from the Communist Party following an investigation that found he had accepted bribes in return for helping others with matters such as securing jobs [para. 5].

For further details and inquiries, contact reporter Qing Na at qingna@caixin.com and editor Jonathan Breen at jonathanbreen@caixin.com [para. 6].