WELLINGTON: A Chinese-born businessman has agreed to pay New Zealand authorities US$31 million to settle their money laundering investigation into him, although he remains wanted by Beijing over the alleged multi-million-dollar fraud. William Yan, 45, holds New Zealand citizenship and denies any wrongdoing. Although he was never charged in New Zealand with money-laundering, China still considers him one of the country’s most-wanted suspects. The settlement with Yan, his wife Wei You and two associates follows a complex three-year investigation into alleged laundering of money derived from a series of frauds in China between 1999-2001. “They were alleged to have assisted in money laundering and various property associated with them was restrained, including three Auckland properties, a Porsche and Maserati, and over NZ$4.5 million in bank funds.

Source: Manila Times August 23, 2016 03:33 UTC