# Chinese billionaire/murderer pays gov't 6 billion$ not to execute him **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 26, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205 "2005-12-26T01:46:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrightSmite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BrightSmite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightSmite)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/1 "2005-12-26T01:46:04Z")
[This](http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=20&art_id=4801&sid=5299093&con_type=1) Link Tells about Yuan Baojing, a 39 year old real estate tycoon (worth about 50 billion$) in China. He was convicted of murder by Chinese courts and sentenced to die. He got his wife to sign over about six billion dollars worth of assets over to the Chinese government a couple of days before the execution date. He was scheduled to be executed on October 14. Several days later, when it was learned that he was still alive, is when I saw this story. I’m so interested in this because I know China is notorious for executing **large** numbers of criminals. I was pretty stunned when I heard about this man who \*actually \* paid for his life. I am also kind of amazed to see an actual price paid. I don’t think anybody has ever successfully paid there way out of any state execution in recent years (especially in China). It will be interesting to find out if they end up killing him, if he spends the rest of his life in jail, or they let him go free. Plus, as this list points out, China will execute you for many reasons, such as: \*An abridged quote from [this wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China) page \* > [@](#): > > - Economic crimes such as tax fraud > - relatively small-scale drug offenses > - repeat offenders whose individual crimes would be considered relatively minor in most judicial systems, such as non-violent theft or causing incidental bodily harm that is not life threatening or debilitating > - attempted crimes which are not actually fully carried out, including repeat offenses such as attempted theft, attempted fraud > - crimes against symbols and treasures of the state, such as theft of cultural relics and the killing of pandas. ---
**Author:** ![BrightSmite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BrightSmite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightSmite)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/2 "2005-12-26T03:00:04Z")
I just realized my post is not a “great debate”. So I guess my question is : Are \*\*HUGE \*\* sums of money simply above the law? If NOT, then what about for sparing his life in regard to the overall good of the country? [This](http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17441429%255E28737,00.html) article says: > [@](#): > > [He] must have known he had two things in his favour: China’s desperate search for \*\*energy resources \*\* and its haphazard application of the death penalty. ``` **So**... ``` > [@](#): > > On October 12, two days before he was due to die by lethal injection for murdering a former employee, [he] took the precaution of signing over his 40 per cent share in an Indonesian \*\*oil field \*\* to the Chinese Government. Are these things enough to justify sparing his life? ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/3 "2005-12-26T03:06:30Z")
> [@HardWorker](#): > > Are \*\*HUGE \*\* sums of money simply above the law? In theory or reality? In theory, no. In reality, yes and the sum doesn’t usually have to be that huge. Just big enough to hire a better lawyer than the prosecuting attorney. > [@](#): > > Are these things enough to justify sparing his life? Probably not, but a bit of moot point, wouldn’t you say? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/4 "2005-12-26T03:19:35Z")
The closest analogy I can thing of is when the now deceased Frank (Tough man to make a tender chicken) Perdue basically bought his way out of a reckless driving rap by paying the deceased family a large sum of money to drop the case. As an interesting side note it was then defense Atty (now Senator) [Arlen Specter](http://www.pamspaulding.com/weblog/2005/04/its-small-small-worlddead-chicken-man.html) that got him off. > [@](#): > > Perdue the man, the chicken magnate who has spent millions of dollars on television advertisements cultivating his “tough guy” image, was charged with recklessly and negligently killing a man in a highway accident 15 years ago, yet he walked away without a trial, according to a report in Southern Exposure magazine in July 1989. On October 30, 1974, Perdue’s car collided with two cars on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, killing one of the other drivers. Investigators say that Perdue was speeding and apparently ignored or overlooked warning signs and red lights as he entered a lane reserved for oncoming, detoured traffic. Perdue was charged with involuntary manslaughter, arrested and released on $500 bail, but the case was dismissed on May 12, 1975 “because it was not tried within the 180 days as required by Pennsylvania law,” federal investigators reported. According to the Southern Exposure report, Perdue hired Philadelphia lawyer Arlen Specter, the city’s former district attorney and later a U.S. Senator., who successfully defended him. The magazine also reported that since the highway death 15 years ago, Perdue has been convicted of speeding 16 times in Maryland alone. > [@](#): > > One of the biggest scoops (by our founding editor, Bob Hall) was discovering that Perdue, an incorrigibly reckless driver, had been charged with involuntary manslaughter in 1974 when he “ignored or overlooked warning signs and red lights” on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and collided with two cars, killing one person. But Perdue’s expensive lawyer got the charges dropped and the court records expunged; as one court official told Southern Exposure, “There was a lot of grease on the wheel of this one.” > > Perdue’s lawyer? None other than Arlen Specter, now U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. During Specter’s first senatorial campaign in 1986, Perdue contributed the maximum $2,000; a heavy contributor for many years to Republicans such as Jesse Helms and Lauch Faircloth (along with some Democrats), Perdue also gave $20,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee between 1985 and 1987. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/5 "2005-12-26T03:38:49Z")
Considering the power of the chinese government I don’t see why they don’t just execute him then take all the assets he owned. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/6 "2005-12-26T04:05:03Z")
> [@astro](#): > > The closest analogy I can thing of is when the now deceased Frank (Tough man to make a tender chicken) Perdue basically bought his way out of a reckless driving rap by paying the deceased family a large sum of money to drop the case. > > As an interesting side note it was then defense Atty (now Senator) [Arlen Specter](http://www.pamspaulding.com/weblog/2005/04/its-small-small-worlddead-chicken-man.html) that got him off. You got an **unbiased** cite for that one? One that wasn’t written by some anti-chicken whackos? I just read the newspaper stories from 1975, and a Pennsylvania Grand Jury refused to indict Perdue. And, yes, Specter was his attorney. So, did Perdue pay off the entire grand jury? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/7 "2005-12-26T04:15:07Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > You got an **unbiased** cite for that one? One that wasn’t written by some anti-chicken whackos? > > I just read the newspaper stories from 1975, and a Pennsylvania Grand Jury refused to indict Perdue. And, yes, Specter was his attorney. So, did Perdue pay off the entire grand jury? Actually, I’m trying to remember if that was the right case or not. I am located in Salisbury, MD and Perdue’s utterly reckless driving habits and notorious disregard for traffic laws are/were a hard fact. IIRC there was a multi-million dollar payment by Perdue to the family of the deceased in an accident to drop any further litigation they had planned, but I think it was a woman who died in that accident so we may be talking about separate incidents. I’ll see if I can find a cite for it. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/8 "2005-12-26T04:25:12Z")
I certainly heard that the first abuse case against Wacko Jacko went nowhere because of a payoff. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/9 "2005-12-26T04:34:59Z")
A 1989 story in the _Washington Post_ confirmed that Perdue had received 34 convictions for traffic violations in 20 years, but had spaced them well enough that he never lost his license. Most were for speeding. Later in 1975, after not being criminally indicted, Perdue was sued by the widow of the man Perdue had killed. I couldn’t find a settlement of that case. Maybe that’s the one. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/10 "2005-12-26T05:36:52Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > I certainly heard that the first abuse case against Wacko Jacko went nowhere because of a payoff. That was not a criminal case, it was a civil suit that was dismissed after the parties settled. Happens all the time, even to people who are not Jacko. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/11 "2005-12-27T22:33:56Z")
Of course, in cases like this its usually traditional for the wealthy person to pay off not the government itself but some lower level officials, the wealthy person will then leave the country and retire to a beach in the Carribean. The reason you usually can’t just pay the government not to execute you is that any government corrupt enough to accept the bribe is also corrupt enough to simply confiscate your money to begin with. The usual method is to charge the rich person with some crime, execute them, and confiscate their estate. Just taking the money without killing the person is risky, since they might try to get it back, leave the country, flee to France and form a monarchy in exile at the French court, or suchlike. No, better to kill him and just take the money, simpler all around. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/12 "2005-12-28T05:01:02Z")
Is there still any doubt that money buys power/privlidge? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![UselessGit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/74df32/32.png) [@UselessGit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UselessGit)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/13 "2005-12-28T13:35:58Z")
…was there any? ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/14 "2005-12-28T14:24:31Z")
> [@Martin Hyde](#): > > Considering the power of the chinese government I don’t see why they don’t just execute him then take all the assets he owned. Nah, 'cause then the next guy won’t be as pliable. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/15 "2005-12-28T15:00:52Z")
In related news, convicted child porn enthusiast Gary Glitter, aka Paul Gadd, has apparently [bought off](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4563542.stm) the families of two Thai girls aged 11 and 12 whom he was accused of molesting and raping. The families have requested that the rape charges be withdrawn following payments of about $2,000 each. And what’s even more strange is that this filthy move wasn’t exposed as you might expect; no, Glitter’s lawyer is actually trumpeting this without even the decency to sound slightly sheepish. He thinks it’s just great that the witnesses can be bought, and happily says so to the international media. And the prosecutor agrees with him, saying that the payments will actually be taken into account as a mitigating factor in the trial. Bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![BrightSmite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BrightSmite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightSmite)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/16 "2006-09-24T18:31:15Z")
Update: Yuan Baojing was executed in Macrh. Looks like the took his money and killed anyway. Ckick for Pic: [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/18/content\_4315410.htm](http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/18/content_4315410.htm) > [@](#): > > BEIJING, March 18 – Billionaire Yuan Baojing and two other men were executed Friday in Liaoning Province in the contract killing of a man who threatened to expose Yuan’s attempt to murder a businessman. > > ``` > Yuan Baojing, Yuan Baoqi and Yuan Baosen got lethal injection shortly after a public trial in Liaoyang City. > > A fourth criminal, Yuan Baofu, was sentenced to death, but the sentence was suspended for two years. That means the death sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment if he is a model inmate over two years. > > The murder victim, Wang Xing, had helped the billionaire in the attempted murder of a businessman in southwestern China's Sichuan Province. > > Yuan Baojing, a Liaoyang native, registered his Beijing Jianhao Industrial Development Company in Beijing's Huairou District in 1992, the Supreme People's Court reported. > > Six months later, he made more than 2 million yuan (US$249,007) of profits. Then he invested in the securities and bonds markets before acquiring more than 60 companies. His assets were valued at more than 3 billion yuan as of 1996, the supreme court said. > > He believed businessman friend Liu Han's manipulation of a broker caused him to lose nearly 100 million yuan in Sichuan Province, he told Yuan Baoqi and Wang at a Beijing hotel in late 1996. > > Wang suggested punishing Liu. Yuan offered a reward of 160,000 yuan for murdering Liu. > > Contract killer Li Haiyang fired two shots at Liu in a Sichuan hotel in February 1997. But the bullets missed Liu, and Li fled. Li was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment. > > Starting from 1997, Yuan Baojing turned down Wang's requests to borrow money, and the latter threatened many times to blow the whistle on his crime of organizing the attempted murder. > > In early 2001, Yuan Baoqi suggested killing Wang. Yuan Baojing agreed, and gave him 300,000 yuan to pay the contract killers. Yuan Baoqi found Yuan Baofu and Yuan Baosen. > > On November 15, 2001, Yuan Baosen and Yuan Baofu stabbed Wang repeatedly, leaving him seriously injured, shortly after Wang left home. The duo fled. > > Yuan Baoqi gave Yuan Baofu 90,000 yuan. > > Wang continued threatening Yuan Baojing. Then Yuan Baoqi paid Yuan Baofu another 180,000 yuan to "finish the work." > > Yuan Baofu and Yuan Baosen waited for Wang near midnight on October 4, 2003, when he left a majhong games shop in Lioayang. As Wang opened the gate to his apartment building, they shot him twice with a hunting rifle. > > ``` > > (Source: Shanghai Daily) ---
**Author:** ![BrightSmite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BrightSmite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightSmite)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2006, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/17 "2006-09-24T18:38:43Z")
Update: Yuan Baojing was executed in Macrh. Looks like the took his money and killed anyway. Ckick for Pic: [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/18/content\_4315410.htm](http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/18/content_4315410.htm) > [@](#): > > BEIJING, March 18 – Billionaire Yuan Baojing and two other men were executed Friday in Liaoning Province in the contract killing of a man who threatened to expose Yuan’s attempt to murder a businessman. > > ``` > Yuan Baojing, Yuan Baoqi and Yuan Baosen got lethal injection shortly after a public trial in Liaoyang City. > > A fourth criminal, Yuan Baofu, was sentenced to death, but the sentence was suspended for two years. That means the death sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment if he is a model inmate over two years. > > The murder victim, Wang Xing, had helped the billionaire in the attempted murder of a businessman in southwestern China's Sichuan Province. > > Yuan Baojing, a Liaoyang native, registered his Beijing Jianhao Industrial Development Company in Beijing's Huairou District in 1992, the Supreme People's Court reported. > > Six months later, he made more than 2 million yuan (US$249,007) of profits. Then he invested in the securities and bonds markets before acquiring more than 60 companies. His assets were valued at more than 3 billion yuan as of 1996, the supreme court said. > > He believed businessman friend Liu Han's manipulation of a broker caused him to lose nearly 100 million yuan in Sichuan Province, he told Yuan Baoqi and Wang at a Beijing hotel in late 1996. > > Wang suggested punishing Liu. Yuan offered a reward of 160,000 yuan for murdering Liu. > > Contract killer Li Haiyang fired two shots at Liu in a Sichuan hotel in February 1997. But the bullets missed Liu, and Li fled. Li was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment. > > Starting from 1997, Yuan Baojing turned down Wang's requests to borrow money, and the latter threatened many times to blow the whistle on his crime of organizing the attempted murder. > > In early 2001, Yuan Baoqi suggested killing Wang. Yuan Baojing agreed, and gave him 300,000 yuan to pay the contract killers. Yuan Baoqi found Yuan Baofu and Yuan Baosen. > > On November 15, 2001, Yuan Baosen and Yuan Baofu stabbed Wang repeatedly, leaving him seriously injured, shortly after Wang left home. The duo fled. > > Yuan Baoqi gave Yuan Baofu 90,000 yuan. > > Wang continued threatening Yuan Baojing. Then Yuan Baoqi paid Yuan Baofu another 180,000 yuan to "finish the work." > > Yuan Baofu and Yuan Baosen waited for Wang near midnight on October 4, 2003, when he left a majhong games shop in Lioayang. As Wang opened the gate to his apartment building, they shot him twice with a hunting rifle. > > ``` > > (Source: Shanghai Daily) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2006, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-billionaire-murderer-pays-govt-6-billion-not-to-execute-him/337205/18 "2006-09-24T18:52:34Z")
Well, I’m sure that we can all rest more easily now that we know how it concluded. ( **Martin Hyde** seems to have called this one.) Now that the closure information is posted, (apparently with a definitive “No” to the original question that never really got much traction), I think we’ll close this down. [/Moderating]