Former Anbang Insurance Group Co. Ltd. Wu Xiaohui has appealed his fraud and embezzlement conviction, one of his lawyers said on social media platform Weibo.
Chen Youxi, a lawyer at Capital Equity Legal Group in Hangzhou, said Wu has refused to accept the verdict of the first trial. On May 10, the Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced the former Anbang chairman to 18 years in prison and ruled that 10.5 billion yuan will be confiscated from him, as a result of Wu's involvement in fraudulent fundraising and embezzlement.
Chen said in a Weibo post, which was later removed, that the Shanghai High People's Court has already formed a panel to review the appeal. Li Guifang, a Beijing-based lawyer at DeHeng Law Offices, will also represent Wu, Chen said.
The Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court said Wu used multiple companies to assume control of Anbang Insurance Group and Anbang Property & Casualty Insurance Co. Ltd. hiding the actual owners of the companies' shareholders. The court said Wu used Anbang P&C and other companies as financial platforms and engaged in fraud worth more than 65.2 billion yuan while using his position to illegally embezzle 10 billion yuan of premium income from Anbang P&C.
As of May 29, US$1 was equivalent to 6.42 Chinese yuan.
