The leader of a prostitution ring in mainland China remitted HKD 130 million overseas, which was embezzled by a former UBS executive, "who bought a building in London and registered 6 luxury cars"! The court has ruled

Recently, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission disclosed that former UBS AG deputy director Sun Jianrong was convicted of money laundering and contempt of court for embezzling over HKD 130 million from mainland clients under the guise of "assisting with cross-border remittances" and lavishly spending it. He was sentenced to a total of ten years and six months in prison; the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission also announced a lifetime ban on Sun Jianrong from re-entering the financial industry.

Former UBS executive embezzles over 100 million from clients, buys properties in London, and registers 6 luxury cars

The judgment shows that the plaintiffs are Yu Quanli and Lou Xiaojie, a married couple (hereinafter referred to as the Yu couple), who were clients of Sun Jianrong. Between November 2016 and February 2018, based on the account information sent by Sun Jianrong via WeChat, Yu Quanli instructed the accounting staff to transfer RMB 130 million into 29 mainland bank accounts in 37 installments across 14 different dates—one of which, RMB 5 million, went directly into Sun Jianrong's own China Merchants Bank account.

To convince the Yu couple of the legitimacy, Sun Jianrong would send photos of "transfer requests" from his cousin Chi Xingxin's HSBC account via WeChat after each payment, proving that "the funds had entered the Hong Kong transit stage." Additionally, he provided forged UBS joint account statements each month, precisely mimicking UBS's standard format, font, and even anti-counterfeiting features, only falsifying the core transaction data.

In June 2018, Sun Jianrong resigned from UBS, and the Yu couple's accounts were handed over to a new advisor, which led to the exposure of the scam—the real account statements provided by the new advisor showed that the account balance was over HKD 100 million less than the numbers fabricated by Sun Jianrong, and the 37 key deposit records had vanished without a trace.

So, where did the money go? Investigative information from forensic accountants revealed that the funds flowed into two Hong Kong bank accounts controlled by Sun Jianrong—HSBC received HKD 50.62 million, USD 5.15 million, and GBP 160,000, while Hang Seng Bank received HKD 10.62 million, USD 1.72 million, and GBP 143,000.

During this period, Sun Jianrong purchased four properties in London (including a building containing 27 apartments) and two properties in mainland China, with a total value of HKD 29 million; he also registered six luxury cars, including Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Porsche.

After Sun Jianrong's arrest, the court issued a global asset freeze order against him on July 18, 2018, prohibiting him from disposing of or handling his assets, limited to HKD 130 million. However, Sun Jianrong not only failed to comply but also transferred his rights to the 27 apartments in London to a company in the British Virgin Islands on July 27, 2018.

The victim is the head of a prostitution ring in Nanjing

It is worth noting that the judgment shows that the victim and plaintiff, Yu Quanli, and his wife, Lou Xiaojie, are not ordinary people. The Hong Kong court explicitly pointed out in the judgment that the 130 million yuan used by Yu Quanli for the transfer "most likely comes from organized illegal prostitution activities," and Sun Jianrong, as a professional financial advisor, "should have been aware of the illegality of the funds."

The judgment mentioned that Sun Jianrong stated that the Yu couple used him to launder money and evade foreign exchange controls in the mainland. Sun Jianrong had read a report stating that Yu Quanli was operating a prostitution ring in Nanjing. Yu Quanli was arrested in 2019 and therefore could not attend the court hearing in Hong Kong, participating only through written testimony in Sun Jianrong's case.

The Nanjing Intermediate People's Court mentioned in its 2020 work report that it lawfully tried the organized crime cases involving 61 people, including Ni Jian and others, and the major organized prostitution case involving 19 people, including Yu Quanli, as well as the black-related case involving 21 people, including Xia Zuhuan, effectively purifying the social atmosphere.

It is reported that Yu Quanli was convicted by a mainland court in 2020 for operating a large-scale prostitution ring in Nanjing and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The judgment mentioned that the Hong Kong court agreed with the plaintiff's lawyer that the parties' actions violated mainland foreign exchange management regulations, which does not hinder their claims based on the principle of unjust enrichment. For the above reasons, the court supported the plaintiff's claims against the defendant for fraud and tortious liability (the remaining claims do not need to be tried) and ordered the defendant to bear compensation liability to the plaintiff.

Author of this article: Duan Lian, Du Bo, Source: Daily Economic News, Original title: "Leader of mainland prostitution ring remits money abroad, former UBS executive embezzles 130 million HKD, 'buys a house in London and registers 6 luxury cars'! The court has ruled."

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