A Chinese property developer wanted by the U.S. government on bribery charges has agreed to be extradited.
The South China Morning Post reported that Zhang Li, co-founder of Chinese property developer Guangzhou R&F Properties, was arrested last year at London’s Heathrow Airport after arriving from Singapore. In an agreement announced by a U.K. court, Zhang consented to extradition to the U.S. “on conditional bail” in order to face charges that he provided kickbacks and funds to San Francisco officials in exchange for construction permits on a multi-million-dollar mixed-use development project.
According to the charges against him, the 70-year-old Zhang made his bribes in the form of accommodation and gifts when a U.S. official traveled in China on vacation. The total bribes paid are estimated to be between $40,000 and $70,000.
Zhang’s detention in the U.K. created controversy when he avoided imprisonment by paying roughly $19 million for conditional bail and agreeing to self-imposed house arrest in his luxurious five-bedroom penthouse apartment in London.
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