Shanxi police extradite crime suspect from Tajikistan

TAIYUAN -- A suspect has been returned to China from Tajikistan as a campaign to capture fugitives suspected of economic crime continues, police in Shanxi Province announced Sunday.

It is the first suspect that Shanxi police have brought back from Tajikistan in the Fox Hunt campaign, which targets suspects in economic crime who have fled overseas.

According to the local police, the suspect, who was identified by the family name as Xu, illegally obtained more than 60 million yuan ($9.5 million) of public funds in the name of the conglomerate he controlled between January 2007 and July 2011, and spent the money by ways including paying off previous debts and interests on those debts he owed and paid bills for his personal consumption, incurring heavy losses on the public.

Xu fled overseas after his case was exposed.

Prosecutors with the people's procuratorate of Fangshan County in Shanxi issued a warrant to arrest him in June 2015 on charges of illegal acquisition of public funds.

China requested the extradition of Xu via diplomatic channels after police in Tajikistan apprehended him in February.