XU CHAOFAN, suspect in a US$485 million bank embezzlement case, was repatriated back to China yesterday, 17 years after he fled to the United States, the country’s top anti-graft agency said.

The repatriation of Xu, the former chief of Bank of China Kaiping branch in Guangdong Province, is an important outcome of law enforcement cooperation against corruption between China and the United States, according to a statement from the official website of the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Xu fled to the United States in 2001, and the Interpol placed a Red Notice on him. He was arrested by the U.S. side in 2003 and sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2009.

Xu is the first suspect of a duty-related crime to be repatriated from abroad since the founding of the National Supervisory Commission in March.

As of now, the Chinese Government and Bank of China have retrieved more than 2 billion yuan (US$300 million) of stolen funds, according to the office in charge of fugitive repatriation and asset recovery under the central anti-corruption coordination group.

(Xinhua)