Recently, according to a ruling by a UK court, a Chinese couple accused by the Chinese Communist government of being involved in a 262.5 billion yuan (37.7 billion USD) fraud case is now facing a legal investigation in the UK. They must prove how they managed to build a property investment portfolio worth millions of pounds in the UK.
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday (September 3) that the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the UK is investigating Chinese immigrants Tian Wenjun and his wife, to determine whether the student rental properties they purchased in the UK were acquired using funds obtained through criminal activities.
The Chinese authorities claim that Tian Wenjun owns 59 shell companies in China with a total of approximately 1,010 loans. The couple is alleged to have used a series of shell companies to apply for false loans and manipulate the stock market, making profits of about 1.2 billion pounds (1.6 billion USD) in a 14-year fraud scheme.
In 2021, the Chinese authorities issued arrest warrants against them, and the investigation in the UK began in 2022.
Last Friday (August 30), lawyers for Tian Wenjun and his wife stated in a hearing that the NCA’s description of the evidence was “one-sided, biased, and misleading.” The lawyers argued that the NCA’s investigation was based on information provided by the Chinese authorities, who, motivated by political reasons, were engaging in “transnational repression” against their citizens.
In 2017, Tian Wenjun and his wife invested over 10 million pounds in the UK. With the assistance of Dolfin Financial UK Ltd., they utilized the then-investment visa scheme to immigrate to the UK. Currently, this investment is under special management.
Records from Dolfin indicate that this money was obtained by Tian Wenjun from the sale of his Chinese company, Dongsheng International Investment Group Co., in October 2015.
According to mainland Chinese media reports, Tian Wenjun, born in Jinzhong in 1973, is a hidden millionaire in China. He is low-key, mysterious, and prefers to stay behind the scenes, with the public only knowing him as a savvy operator in capital markets.
In 2009, Tian Wenjun founded DeYu Agriculture and served as chairman. In 2010, DeYu Agriculture was officially listed on the NASDAQ in the United States. From 2014 to 2016, it was the most active period for the company, controlling at least seven listed companies in both Chinese and foreign capital markets.
By the end of 2017, the DeYu Group faced a debt crisis, causing the listed companies under its control to change hands or fall into distress. On October 15, 2020, the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued an administrative penalty decision against Tian Wenjun, who had fled overseas.