Boss of Yongkang firm arrested after fleeing to Uganda

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-07-04

Yu Youjing. (Internet photo)

Yu Youjing, who runs the largest import and export company in Yongkang in eastern China's Zhejiang province, has been arrested in Entebbe in Uganda and escorted back to China, reports the state-run China News Service.

The 40-year-old woman made headlines in February this year after she was accused of taking out loans against her company of almost 150 million yuan (US$24 million) from more than 50 creditors including four state-owned banks, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, private guarantee institutions and companies and then snuck out of the country via Guangzhou.

Yu started her career as an insurance salesperson in 1998. She founded her own business selling cars two years later with the money she borrowed and 100,000 yuan (US$16,000) of her own money. In 2004, she decided to abandon the car business and established Zhejiang Baige import and export company for higher margins. Yu served as the company's legal representative and general manager.

The company has had one of the highest trading volumes in the city since 2007 and was giving a high rating as a trading company by the Jinhua government in central Zhejiang. In 2011, the company's exports exceeded US$50 million in value, one of the 30 highest among businesses in Jinhua and the third highest in Yongkang, reports Xiandai Jinbao, a Zhejiang-based newspaper directly affiliated with Xinhua News Agency.

Yongkang police set up a team to investigate Yu after she fled the country and discovered the contract scam. The police listed Yu as a fugitive on the internet and froze the company's bank accounts and assets.

On June 4, the Chinese public security bureau posted a red notice to Interpol, seeking her location and asking for her arrest. After obtaining information of her activities in Uganda on June 30, the bureau organized a team to arrest Yu in Entebbe. She was arrested on Wednesday morning in a joint operation between Chinese and Ugandan police.

She said she regretted fleeing to Uganda with the money as her brother had quickly gambled it all away, forcing her to look for new business opportunities all over Africa over the past five months. She was about to start a new company with her mother before being arrested and escorted back to China. Yu said she will take full responsibility for her mistakes and urged her mother to return to the country as well, reports the Hangzhou-based Qianjiang Evening News.