Ex-chairman of trust pleads guilty to bribery

Yan Guijun, ex-chairman of Everbright Trust, has pleaded guilty to accepting bribes, engaging in illegal lending and abusing power while standing trial in Jingzhou, Hubei province, a local court said on Wednesday.

When the Jingzhou Intermediate People's Court publicly heard the case on Tuesday, the city's prosecutors said that from the second half of 2002 to 2021, Yan took advantage of his positions in China Everbright Bank, Everbright Financial Holding Asset Management Co and Everbright Trust to seek profits for others in various matters such as loan approval, business operation and job promotion, and accepted bribes worth more than 200 million yuan ($27.8 million) in return.

From May 2016 to February 2020, while serving various positions of the Everbright Trust, Yan, despite knowing that some companies did not meet the loan conditions, directed his subordinates to handle the loans and approved them in violation of laws. This led to the improper issuance of over 6.39 billion yuan in loans, according to the prosecutors.

Additionally, between May and July 2020, when Yan was chairman of the Everbright Trust, he broke the rules for transferring State-owned assets, approving the transfer of a company's stock income rights to individuals who were not qualified for strategic investment, the prosecutors noted.

They provided evidence to the court, adding that Yan should be held criminally liable for bribery, illegal lending and abuse of power.

Yan and his lawyer shared their opinion during the trial, with Yan confessing to the crimes in his final statement.

The court said that the ruling will be announced at a later date.

More than 30 people, including those engaged in the financial industry in Jingzhou and local financial regulators, attended the hearing.