📖 ZKIZ Archives

英報：李鵬女捲億元賄賂案 李小琳否認稱保留追究權利

1 : GS(14)@2013-10-12 17:00:03

http://www.mpfinance.com/htm/finance/20131012/news/ec_caa1.htm

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2 : GS(14)@2013-10-12 17:01:14

【明報專訊】英國傳媒昨日報道，前人大委員長李鵬女兒李小琳涉及瑞士蘇黎世保險進入內地市場而花費的數以千萬元計賄款的䒷底交易，案件目前正在美國一家法院進入上訴階段，由於案件同時涉及前財政部長項懷誠、前國土資源部長田鳳山以及全國政協前副主席黃孟復等多名前高官，據稱中紀委已介入調查。

中國電力國際有限公司董事長李小琳昨晚透過該公司官方微博澄清：一，她未與任何保險公司有個人往來，也不認識什麼保險公司的人；二，網上關於其涉及什麼保險交易的謠言，純屬惡意卑劣的中傷；三，其本人保留追究造謠者、傳謠者法律責任的權利。

涉介紹舊同學助蘇黎世進華

英國《每日電訊報》昨日引述獨家獲得的美國弗吉尼亞法庭文件報道，財政部前官員趙竑在法庭作供時指，瑞士聯邦主席1995年10月訪華，國宴席間有人透露蘇黎世保險有限公司(Zurich Insurance，下稱蘇保)欲進入中國市場。趙竑續稱，其舊同學李小琳在晚宴後找他告知上述消息，同時說：「你知道嗎，我想這是你們參與組建新華人壽的好機會。」

報道指，李小琳其後介紹了持有新華人壽3要主要股東給蘇保管理層認識。當一筆1690萬(美元，下同，約合1.31億港元)匯到設於離岸的巴哈馬瑞信戶口後，上述3人承諾將手上合佔全公司約四分一的股份賣予蘇保。中國是於2001年才向外資開放保險市場，蘇保向新華人壽大舉注資也在此之後。

趙竑2011年11月對《21世紀經濟報道》稱，蘇保當初希望在東方集團董事長張宏偉、新華人壽前董事長、東方集團副總同時又曾是趙竑大學同學的關國亮以及趙竑3人幫助下入股新華人壽，以期在中國加入世貿組織後搶佔內地保險市場，因而願意付出1690萬的「好處費」。趙竑形容這是一筆地道的「黑錢」。

報道引述趙竑稱，自己1996年11月初在巴哈馬開戶收取了蘇保1693.1335萬元的匯款後(見圖)。

趙揭餽贈田鳳山項懷誠女兒

趙竑又透露，按張的指示，他向一些中國官員送出禮金，包括1990年代末送了1萬元予當時的黑龍江省長田鳳山。《每日電訊報》則稱，許多收受賄款的中國官員本身與批核外資公司進入中國金融市場關係密切，而其中一層價值60萬元的美國住宅，給當時正留美讀書的時任財長項懷誠的女兒使用。新華人壽在1996年正式開業。蘇保前後斥資約4.88億元人民幣(不計黑錢)購兩成新華股份，後賣11%獲4.85億鎊(約7.8億美元)巨利，目前尚餘9.4%價值約6億鎊(約9.6億美元)的股份。

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3 : GS(14)@2013-10-12 17:01:21

http://www.mpfinance.com/htm/finance/20131012/news/ec_caa2.htm


【明報專訊】目前正在美國等待上訴程序的這宗索賠案件的兩名主角，原告為59歲的張宏偉，他旗下東方集團是內地首家上市的民營企業，他在2011年福布斯中國富豪榜中排第61位，擁有近百億人民幣資產。他曾任第10屆全國政協委員，現時在港上市的民生銀行(1988)副董事長、非執董，另外亦是聯合能源集團(0467)主席。

趙曾為公司駐美代表

被告是曾為張宏偉立下汗馬功勞的趙竑，他原是一名政府官員，於1984年和1992年兩度被財政部派往世界銀行工作，並於1994年辭去公職，在美國創辦投資諮詢公司。1994年，趙竑透過大學同學、東方集團副總裁關國亮結識張宏偉，張委趙為東方集團總裁助理及駐美代表，直到2009年。

張索趙2000萬美元

2009年底，張在美國馬里蘭州和弗吉尼亞州法院以涉嫌違反信託責任、欺詐、侵吞公司財物等多項罪名起訴趙，指趙在1994年至2009年任職期間，有450萬美元公司資金去向不明，索賠2000萬美元。

2011年11月初， 弗吉尼亞州法庭判趙竑敗訴，須向張宏偉賠償10萬美元。趙不服上訴，在庭審中爆出事件牽涉其舊同學李小琳，再度引起各界關注。

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4 : GS(14)@2013-10-12 17:01:31

http://www.mpfinance.com/htm/finance/20131012/news/ec_caa3.htm


【明報專訊】新華保險H股昨收報22.5元，升0.45％，H股總市值233億港元。按港交所資料，蘇黎世保險公司(Zurich Insurance Company)現為新華保險H股的最大單一股東，持H股37.81％，共3.9億股，市值相等於88億港元。

據新華保險招股書披露，2000年獲中國保監會批准，以每股4元人民幣向包括蘇黎世保險等4個海外投資者合共發行1.992億股，但未有披露蘇黎世保險佔多少。到2011年新華人壽再以每股10元人民幣向股東增發，直至H股上市前蘇黎世已持3.9億股。

歷年提供收費諮詢服務

另外，按招股書所言，蘇黎世有向新華提供業務及技術諮詢服務，新華在2008、2009、2010年分別支付服務費用400萬、200萬、300萬元人民幣，2011年則付23.8萬美元。

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5 : GS(14)@2013-10-12 17:03:30

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ ... l-was-revealed.html


By Malcolm Moore in Beijing

7:05PM BST 10 Oct 2013

To the three children of one of China's richest tycoons, Bill Zhao, or "Uncle Bill", was a father figure.

He took care of them in the small American town of Gaithersburg, Maryland, where they had been sent to study as teenagers. His wife threw their birthday parties and took them on holiday to Honolulu and Niagara Falls.

But there was more to Mr Zhao. He was a former high-ranking official in China's finance ministry and then the World Bank who had been recruited by the children's father, the billionaire Zhang Hongwei, to run his business, the Orient Group, in the United States.

"They wanted somebody like me to run their US operations and since I joined them I did make a facelift of the whole Orient Group," Mr Zhao said in a deposition to a court in Virginia in 2011.

He claimed credit for setting up several business deals for Mr Zhang, and for getting his boss on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. The company's success, he said, was helped by "the Zhao Factor".



One of his greatest deals, however, was to sell a stake owned by the Orient Group in New China Life, an insurance company, to Zurich Insurance, the Swiss giant.

In court, Mr Zhao said the deal was kept secret.

"It was a great deal at that time, even though everybody was aware that it was under the table and there could be serious consequences if disclosed," Mr Zhao said, in his deposition.

The relationship between the two men began to unravel in 2004, however, when another of Mr Zhang's deputies, Guan Guoliang, was put under investigation in China for embezzlement.

According to Mr Zhao's lawyers, his boss grew suspicious of what Mr Zhao knew about his activities.

They said that the tycoon "dispatched Bill Zhao back to America to get rid of him from China. Bill knows too much about the illicit deals involving all three gentlemen".

Ever since, they later claimed, Mr Zhang has been trying "to silence, to neutralise, and to eliminate Bill Zhao".

In 2010, Mr Zhao was arrested by FBI agents at Washington's Dulles airport after an alleged tip off by Mr Zhang. He was sentenced to five months in jail for evading insurance payments.

The following year, Mr Zhang filed a civil suit in the circuit court in Fairfax County, Virginia against Mr Zhao for five charges including misappropriating millions of pounds from American Orient Group, the US arm of his business.

In that case, which concluded in November 2011, the details of how the company had received its funds from Zurich Insurance and how they had subsequently been spent, partly on bribes for Chinese government officials, were publicly aired for the first time. The transcripts from the court have never previously been released.

Mr Zhao, his lawyer said at the time, was determined to tell all. "It may not be pretty. It may not be good for him. It may implicate him in violating Chinese laws, various type of laws, money laundering, evading China's foreign currency control laws, evading China's laws regarding selling insurance company shares in 1996 and 1997 before he was allowed," his lawyer told the jury.

"But Bill is going to tell you, 'I have nothing to lose. I'm going to tell you what really happened.'"

In the end, Mr Zhao was found innocent of four out of the five charges but found guilty of breaching his fiduciary duty. He is currently appealing against a fine of $700,000.

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6 : GS(14)@2013-10-12 17:05:11

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ ... nsurance-giant.html


By Malcolm Moore, in Beijing and Raf Sanchez in Fairfax County, Virginia

7:05PM BST 10 Oct 2013

A secret multi-million pound deal to carve up China's insurance market, brokered by the daughter of the country's former prime minister, has been sent to anti-corruption investigators.

The deal guaranteed Zurich Insurance, one of the world's largest financial institutions, a hugely lucrative stake in a major Chinese insurance company at a time when foreign firms were barred from investing in the sector.

The deal, which came to light during a court case in the United States, was cut at the very highest level of the Communist party, by the daughter of the prime minister at the time, Li Peng.

The documents and transcripts from the court, obtained by the Telegraph, give a fresh insight into the relationship between money and power in China, and the "hurdles" western businesses have had to leap to establish themselves in the world's second-largest economy.

The revelations also come in the midst not only of one of the fiercest anti-corruption campaigns in years, but also at a time when foreign firms are under particular scrutiny, with Chinese investigators already looking into alleged malpractice at GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical giant, and Danone, the French food group.

In 1995, Li Xiaolin, now one of China's most powerful women in her own right, introduced executives from Zurich to three Chinese businessmen who held a majority stake in New China Life, the country's largest private insurance company.

In return for a $16.9 million (£10.4 million) payment into an offshore Credit Suisse account in the Bahamas, they agreed to sell Zurich almost a quarter of the company, four years before it was legal for foreign firms to make such investments.

Court documents and transcripts obtained by the Telegraph show how the money from Zurich was then used to bribe several high-ranking Communist party officials, who allegedly received thousands of dollars of "pocket money" when they visited the United States.

There is no suggestion that Zurich was aware of how the money was subsequently spent.

A spokesman for the company said its shareholding in New China Life "is in compliance with the relevant laws in China and China Insurance Regulatory Commission regulations". He added: "Beyond this, we do not have any further comments."

Many of the officials who received payments were directly responsible for deciding whether to allow foreign companies to enter China's financial sector.

In one case, a $600,000 house was bought for the use of the daughter of China's then Finance minister while she was studying in the US.

Zurich has reaped enormous profits from its stake in New China Life. After its initial payment to the Bahamas, it paid a further 51 million yuan in 2000, the equivalent at the time of just £6.7 million, for a 10 per cent stake in the company.

According to reports in the Chinese media, it spent a further 437.6 million yuan in 2004 (£29 million) to build that stake to 20 per cent.

As the value of the company soared, Zurich amassed £485 million from share sales. Its remaining 9.4 per cent of the company is worth roughly £600 million.

The deal was revealed in a legal battle between two of the businessmen that Zurich dealt with: 59-year-old Zhang Hongwei, now one of China's richest men, and his former employee, Bill Zhao.

In 2010, Mr Zhang accused Mr Zhao, a former Chinese government official who went on to work at the World Bank, of misappropriating some of the money that Zurich paid.

In the subsequent court battle, details of the fee and how it was spent, were aired in court.

Separately, another of Mr Zhang's former associates has reported the deal to the Communist party's anti-graft unit, the Commission for Discipline Inspection, as part of a raft of allegations against him.

In court, Bill Zhao explained how the deal with Zurich had first been raised at a state banquet for the Swiss president in October 1995.

Li Xiaolin had come to him, a former school friend, after the dinner and told him the chairman of Zurich was interested in breaking into the Chinese market.

"And she said, you know what, I think this could be a good opportunity for you guys trying to set up organising New China Life. And I said, it sounds pretty good. Let's do something," he said.

Mr Zhao put the idea to his boss, Zhang Hongwei, who ran a conglomerate called China Orient Group. After discussions in Beijing and Zurich, a contract was drawn up the following year.

"We did tell them that our role would be to assist Zurich to enter the Chinese market by helping them receive governmental approval," said Mr Zhang in court. He described the payment from Zurich as a "good faith fee" to demonstrate its commitment.

A legal opinion from Beijing's Tianyin law firm, submitted to the US court, said the deal was in breach of the law: "It was in violation of the relevant regulations whereby the transaction was not enforceable and the seller's receipt of the payment for the stock purchase by the buyer was not legal".

The law firm added that, by keeping the money from Zurich offshore and not sending it back to the mainland, China Orient Group had also broken China's foreign exchange rules.

"This is an under-the-table deal. You can call it bribery," said Hugh Mo, a lawyer for Mr Zhao, in his closing arguments, referring to the USD16.9 million payment.

"You can call it, you know, illicit funds. You can call it, let's say, you know, to grease the wheel. You can even say that it's to lobby or to facilitate the Zurich Insurance Company to enter China's insurance market."

In court, Mr Zhang's lawyer said there had not been "any evidence to show that the transaction was illegal" but did not dispute that the money had been paid by Zurich.

The documents also reveal how the families of the leaders most closely associated with the Tiananmen Square massacre have gone on to reap enormous rewards for keeping the Communist party in power.

Li Xiaolin's father, Li Peng, became known as the "Butcher of Tiananmen".

He ordered the tanks to move in, albeit at the behest of the paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.

Li Xiaolin and her brother, Li Xiaopeng, came to control the power industry. Last year, the New York Times revealed that the family of Wen Jiabao, the former prime minister who was also closely involved in handling the student protests, had a fortune of $2.7 billion, also mainly from the insurance industry.

The US court heard that some of the money from Zurich was transferred to the United States where it was used to buy an apartment block, to fund the education and visas for Mr Zhang's three children, and to "ingratiate, lobby and influence high-level Chinese officials".

Cheques were produced in court to show payments to Chinese officials, including the purchase of a house for the use of the daughter of the then Finance minister, Xiang Huaicheng, while she studied at an American university.

Tian Fengshan, the former Land and Resources minister who was given a life sentence for corruption in 2005, was given $10,000 of "pocket money" when he visited the US in 1998.

Another payment allegedly went to Ma Mingjia, who ran the insurance department of the People's Bank of China and another to Huang Mengfu, the vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee (CPPCC), a political advisory group which Mr Zhang sits on.

Mr Zhang denied that he had authorised any of the payments, but admitted that his company had a policy of entertaining senior officials. In his deposition, Mr Zhang said that he might have asked for some money to be given to Mr Huang. "Possible, but how much, I don't remember," he said.

A spokesman for Mr Zhang said: "China Orient Group did not sell any shares of New China Life to Zurich Insurance."

The dispute between Mr Zhang and Mr Zhao is currently at an appeal stage at the Supreme Court in Virgina. Mr Zhao is disputing an earlier court judgment that found him in breach of fiduciary duty in relation to the management of the American branch of the Orient Group. He has been cleared of four other charges.

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7 : greatsoup38(830)@2013-10-12 23:41:54

http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/international/art/20131012/18460482



國務院前總理李鵬之女李小琳，昨日被外媒踢爆在一宗1995年的枱底交易中充當掮客。「李公主」穿針引線，促成了蘇黎世保險公司違法向三名新華人壽的股東買入股份，偷步進入中國市場，蘇黎世向三股東支付逾1,690萬美元（約港幣1.31億元）回報，部份被用作賄賂中國官員。

英國《每日電訊報》昨以「天安門屠夫之女涉嫌秘密交易」為題報道指，在1995年的時候，國際保險業巨頭蘇黎世保險，急切希望進入尚未對外資開放的中國市場。經多番嘗試，他們最終找到了李小琳，並由她介紹認識了新華人壽保險的股東張宏偉、趙竑等三人。李小琳明確提出可以借助蘇黎世的資金重整（set up organising）新華人壽保險的股份，三人欣然應允，答應轉讓公司近四分之一的股份。作為補償，蘇黎世保險向三人的一個離岸賬戶上支付逾1,690萬美元的好處費。
1,690萬美元「誠意金」

而在張宏偉自己的描述中，這筆錢是「服務費」和「誠意金」，用於幫蘇黎世向內地主管部門申請擴股資格。根據公開報道，新華人壽是中國入世之後第一家外資入股的中國保險公司。2001年，IFC、蘇黎世、日本明治生命保險等共購入24.9%的股份。而當年以僅僅4元人民幣入股的蘇黎世保險，今年7月12日減持部份股票時，股價已經高達22.5元。
這篇報道並未直言李小琳從中撈取了多少的分成，但證據顯示，其中的一部份資金被轉移到美國，用來購買房產，以及討好、游說中共的高官。比如前任財政部長項懷誠的女兒項思英在美國讀書期間，張宏偉就為其購買了一棟房產；而國土資源部前部長田鳳山在1998年訪問美國時，也曾從中領取一萬美金的「零花錢」。此外全國政協前副主席黃孟復，人民銀行保險業務的前負責人馬鳴加等，也都被指拿了黑錢。
官司揭勾結貪遍國務院

當年一同分贓的張宏偉與趙竑二人近年來關係破裂，更在美國一家地方法院對簿公堂。不過也正因為官司的原因，雙方被迫在庭上公開中國官商勾結的黑暗內幕。根據一份庭上記錄，曾為兩人提供幫助、或者曾在不同時期收受賄賂的中共官員遍佈國務院各個部門，當中更有政治局委員、國務院副總理劉延東的大名。張宏偉現仍是本港上市的聯合能源董事長，公司昨回覆說不清楚案情。
英國《每日電訊報》/廣州《21世紀經濟報導》

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8 : greatsoup38(830)@2013-10-12 23:42:14

http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/international/art/20131012/18460485



李鵬在位之時，為自家謀得電力行業的壟斷地位。下台前，更是親手將兒子李小鵬與女兒李小琳扶上高位。李小琳身兼中國電力國際發展有限公司及中國電力新能源發展有限公司的董事長，被看作中國的「電力一姐」。
與大部份官二代低調賺錢不同，52歲的李小琳性格張揚，不僅打扮上追求時尚尊貴，而且口沒遮攔、言論雷人。2008年李小琳第一次參加兩會，就憑藉一條粉紅色LV圍巾強勢入鏡。到了2012年的兩會，她又精心準備意大利頂尖品牌Emilio Pucci的新款粉紅色西裝、Chanel珍珠項鏈。有媒體盤點，她此次亮相的全身行頭價格超過三萬元人民幣，成為所有記者爭相捕捉的焦點。
靠父蔭卻稱自己努力

明明靠父蔭爬到高位，但李小琳卻一再宣稱全靠自己努力：「我的成長是自己一步一步努力的成果……只享受沒有『背景』的成功。」今年初受訪時卻又「謙虛」說：「一個人出身是難以選擇的。我也是自己努力工作實踐，大學畢業之後，從工程師開始做起，又是從技術員，一步一個腳印的努力，和同志們一起實踐。」
《蘋果》記者

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9 : GS(14)@2013-10-14 16:35:59

http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/international/art/20131014/18462857


被外媒爆涉新華人壽保險內幕交易案的李鵬之女李小琳，前日發公開聲明，自稱「未與任何保險公司有個人往來，也不認識甚麽保險公司的人」，但被指為笑話。內地網民昨狂貼百度可公開搜索到的內容回應：李小琳丈夫劉智源，曾任中國新華人壽保險公司總經理助理。
丈夫曾任新華人壽保險高層

有網民指李小琳講大話：「李公主也和薄熙來一樣，對自己做過的事失憶了？」「自己的老公曾做新華保險的高管，居然說未與任何保險公司有個人往來？是不想認老公了吧？」更有網民稱，李小琳連老公都不認，「是不是有情變啊？」
因在美國涉官非而不經意將李小琳拖下水的中國東方集團老闆張宏偉，昨日則匆匆發表聲明，稱「李姓女士從未參與我公司及關聯公司的任何商業行為，所稱相關事宜純屬惡意的造謠中傷」。
聲明承認，集團轄下香港公司曾協助蘇黎世保險開拓中國市場，收取1,690萬美元（約1.31億港元）費用「屬正常商業行為」。上周五英國媒體爆李小琳曾撮合蘇黎世保險經張宏偉等三名新華保險股東進入中國市場，張等三股東因此獲得1,690萬美元用於賄賂中國官員。
新浪微博/英國廣播公司

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