安邦創(chuàng)始人吳小暉一審獲刑18年

Wu Xiaohui, the Chinese tycoon who rose to international prominence to buy the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Thursday after having pleaded guilty to defrauding investors.

周四，安邦集團(tuán)創(chuàng)始人、前董事長(zhǎng)吳小暉因集資詐騙、職務(wù)侵占罪一審獲刑18年。

Mr. Wu was convicted by a court in Shanghai of using the company he founded, Anbang Insurance Group, to cheat investors out of more than $10 billion, in one of China’s biggest cases of financial crime.

上海市第一中級(jí)人民法院宣布了判決，稱吳小暉利用安邦保險(xiǎn)集團(tuán)騙取投資者652億余元，這已成為中國(guó)最大的金融犯罪案件之一。

Facing a potential life sentence, Mr. Wu had pleaded guilty to the charges and asked the court to consider a lighter sentence.

面對(duì)可能會(huì)被判處無(wú)期徒刑，吳小暉表示認(rèn)罪，并請(qǐng)求法庭考慮減輕刑罰。

The Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court handed down its sentence as 50 people, including members of Mr. Wu’s family, sat in the courtroom, according to a statement from the court.

根據(jù)上海市第一中級(jí)人民法院的一份聲明，50余人在法庭內(nèi)旁聽(tīng)了宣判，其中包括吳小暉的家人。

Mr. Wu was thrust into the spotlight in February when the government seized Anbang, in part of a crackdown on companies that have acquired too much debt by bingeing on overseas assets.

今年2月，中國(guó)政府在對(duì)通過(guò)收購(gòu)海外資產(chǎn)而舉債過(guò)多的公司進(jìn)行打擊時(shí)，查封了安邦，吳小暉成為公眾關(guān)注的焦點(diǎn)。

He initially contested the charges in March during his first and only appearance in the court, which included allegations that he had instructed his employees to flee overseas and change their contact information when the government began investigating the company last year.

在3月首次出庭時(shí)，吳小暉曾對(duì)指控提出異議，這些指控包括，他在2017年政府開(kāi)始調(diào)查該公司時(shí)，曾指示員工逃往海外，并更改了他們的聯(lián)系方式。

“I repent deeply, I know and regret my crimes,” Mr. Wu said then in a televised statement from the court.

“我深刻懺悔，知罪悔罪，”吳小暉后來(lái)在法庭播出的電視聲明中說(shuō)。

Anbang went on an international buying spree in recent years, most notably acquiring the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan for $2 billion.

近年來(lái)，安邦在海外大舉收購(gòu)，最引人注目的是以20億美元的價(jià)格收購(gòu)了曼哈頓標(biāo)志性的華爾道夫酒店(Waldorf Astoria)。

When the government seized Anbang earlier this year, it shook investors as far as Vancouver, where the company owns a retirement home, and Amsterdam, where it owns an insurance company.

安邦被政府接管的消息在全球引起了反響，令遠(yuǎn)至溫哥華和阿姆斯特丹的投資者震驚不已，安邦在溫哥華擁有一座養(yǎng)老院，在阿姆斯特丹擁有一家保險(xiǎn)公司。

Chinese prosecutors accused Mr. Wu of a convoluted scheme in which he hid his control in Anbang through of a web of companies. According to the prosecutors, Mr. Wu instructed employees to falsify financial statements and marketing information. In this way, the government said, Mr. Wu was able to skirt regulations and raise money from the public.

中國(guó)檢方指控吳小暉陰謀策劃騙局，稱其通過(guò)一個(gè)公司網(wǎng)絡(luò)將他對(duì)安邦的控制權(quán)隱藏了起來(lái)。檢方稱，吳小暉指使員工偽造財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)表和營(yíng)銷(xiāo)信息。通過(guò)這種方式，政府表示，他能夠避開(kāi)監(jiān)管，向公眾籌集資金。

The court said in a statement that it had seized Mr. Wu’s bank accounts, real estate and equity.

法院在一份聲明中說(shuō)，吳小暉的銀行賬戶、房產(chǎn)和股權(quán)已被查封、凍結(jié)。

In a response on Thursday, Anbang said that Mr. Wu had been removed from his duties as chairman of the company, adding that its operations are under government supervision.

安邦周四表示，吳小暉已被免去董事長(zhǎng)的職務(wù)，并補(bǔ)充道，它的業(yè)務(wù)現(xiàn)在由政府監(jiān)管。

“Anbang has sufficient cash flow to fulfill its commitments to all customers and ensure that the legitimate rights of policyholders are effectively protected,” the company said in a statement.

該公司在一份聲明中表示：“安邦現(xiàn)金流充裕，能夠履行對(duì)所有安邦客戶的保單承諾，確保保單持有人的合法權(quán)益不受損失。”

Mr. Wu’s lawyer, Zhai Jian, declined to comment.

吳小暉的律師拒絕置評(píng)。