A former Bank of China manager convicted in the United States of embezzling $485 million has been deported to face legal charges in China, in the latest scandal to hit the top bank.
Yu Zhendong, 41, was handed over to Chinese authorities in Beijing on Friday on the condition that he not be tortured or put to death, the US Embassy in Beijing said in a statement.
"The defendant and his alleged co-conspirators, all employees of the Bank of China, embezzled approximately $485 million from the Kaiping branch of the bank during the 1990s," it said late on Friday.
The embassy said Yu was deported after he pleaded guilty in February to racketeering charges in a US court in Las Vegas, Nevada. As part of the plea, it said, China agreed not to sentence Yu to more than 12 years in jail or to death.
Yu's case was the latest development in a string of scandals that have hit China's banks and listed firms in the last few months, underscoring the risk facing investors eager to tap the world's fastest growing major economy.
Bank of China aims to reform its operations and list shares next year.
Chinese newspapers said Yu's case would be the biggest corruption case ever publicly disclosed by officials.
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