WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: A Chinese billionaire has been indicted by a grand jury on charges he schemed with the aluminium company he founded to evade $1.8 billion of tariffs by smuggling huge amounts of the metal into the United States, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.
Liu Zhongtian, 55, and China Zhongwang Holdings Ltd , where he served as chairman and president, were among several defendants charged in a 24-count indictment by a Los Angeles grand jury.
The May 7 indictment had been kept under seal until late on Tuesday. It came as US and Chinese negotiators resumed talks to end trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Neither Zhongwang or Liu, who is still the company’s controlling shareholder, have received any notice of the proceedings, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday.
Zhongwang has previously described smuggling allegations as “misleading” and “without any factual basis.”
“The company would like to clarify that the group has always strictly abided by in its business operation the laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China and destination countries of its exported products, and has developed overseas markets under the principle of fair and orderly competition,” it said in the statement to the exchange.
Zhongwang’s shares fell as much as 20.9 per cent on Thursday to HK$3.17 ($0.41), the lowest since January 2016.
Liu is believed to be in China, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States, and an arrest warrant has been drawn up, according to The Wall Street Journal. It was unclear whether Liu has a US-based lawyer. Liu and his family are worth $3.2 billion, Forbes magazine said.
Prosecutors said the alleged scheme began as early as 2008, and eventually involved efforts to escape duties imposed by the US Department of Commerce in 2011 on various types of extruded aluminium imported from China. — Reuters
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