Rio Tinto Four to Plead Guilty to Accepting a Total of 80 Million Yuan in Bribes

Web exclusive published on Mar 22
Original article: [Chinese]



Tao Wuping talks to the family of one of the accused after the hearing

As the case of four Rio Tinto employees accused of illegally obtaining business secrets and taking bribes got under way in Shanghai earlier today, one of the defendant's lawyers indicated that the four accused would plead guilty to the charges.

According to a lawyer acting on behalf of one of the four accused Rio Tinto employees, all four defendants will plead guilty to charges of accepting bribes.

As the four defendants are said to have accepted bribes ranging from 3.7 million yuan to 70 million yuan, possible sentences for the four range from 5 to 15 years in jail.

The four China-based Rio Tinto employees which include the former head of the company's China office Stern Hu and his Chinese colleagues Wang Yong, Ge Minqiang and Liu Caikui are all charged with accepting bribes and illegally obtaining business secrets.

The trial began this morning at Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.

The EO learned that the trial will be divided into two parts, the first section will focus on the charges of taking bribes and will be open to the public, the second part of the trial will focus on charges of illegally obtaining business secrets, this part of the trial will not be open to the public nor to Australian observers.

The Sydney Morning Herald quoted the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs as confirming? that "at the request of one of the commercial parties on the Chinese side and in accordance with Chinese law and procedure, the court has decided that the sessions dealing with the infringement of commercial secrets should be closed".

Earlier today, Tao Wuping, the lawyer for Liu Caikui, revealed to a journalist from The Economic Observer that all four defendants plan to plead guilty to the bribery charges and their legal team will present a defense based on guilty pleas.

According to the lawyer, both Stern Hu and Ge Minqiang accepted approximately 6 million yuan in bribes, Liu Caikui accepted about 3.7 million yuan while Wang Yong reportedly took close to 70 million yuan.

As Wang Yong, who managed the Northern China market for? Rio Tinto, is said to have received such a large amount in bribes, he faces a maximum sentence of fifteen years in jail. The others face being sentenced to more than five years in jail.

Local prosecutors have accused the four Rio Tinto employees of "taking advantage of their position to seek profit for others, and asking for, or illegally accepting, huge amounts of money from Chinese steel enterprises and illegally obtaining the steel companies' commercial secrets on multiple occasions, causing "extremely serious consequence" for these companies.

The four employees are Australian citizen Stern Hu (Hu Shitai), who before being detained by Shanghai's security bureau worked as an executive at Rio Tinto's Shanghai Office, and three local employees Liu Caikui, Ge Minqiang and Wang Yong. They were detained on suspicion of stealing state secrets in July last year and the police concluded their investigation and sent it to prosecutors on January 11 this year.

The Rio Tinto Four Defense Team

The EO learned that at present, defense lawyers for the four Rio Tinto employees have yet to see the case files, but they have contacted their clients several times.

Duan Qihua (Q.H. Charles Duan), founder of Duan & Duan Law Firm, will represent Stern Hu, the EO learned.
Duan is good at dealing with foreign-related legal cases. In addition, Duan is a member of the Shanghai Arbitration Commission and became the first Foreign Law Consultant for the State of Washington Bar Association when he took up the position in 1991.

Tao Wuping (right), director of Shenda Partners law firm, will represent Liu Caikui. Tao is also a member of the Shanghai Arbitration Commission and a standing member of Shanghai Bar Association.

Zhai Jian, director of Shanghai Zhaijian Law Firm, will defend for Ge Minqiang. Zhai is chosen as one of China's top ten criminal defense lawyers and now acts as director of the Criminal Law Research Committee under Shanghai Bar Association. Zhai acted as a defense lawyer in the high profile case of Beijing resident Yang Jia, who was executed in November 2008 after being found guilty of murdering six police officers during an attack on a Shanghai police station.

Zhai's colleague Zhang Peihong and Yang Bailin, director of Shanghai Huazun Law Firm, have been hired to represent Wang Yong. The EO learned that Yang specializes in economic crime cases and that in 2004 he helped establish a professional commercial investigation company called Shanghai Huazhen Commercial Investigation Company. In addition, Yang now acts as counsel for over 20 large companies including the Shanghai branch of COFCO Import and Export Company.

Links and Sources
Economic Observer:力拓案总受贿额逾8千万 最高判刑可达15年 (Chinese)
Economic Observer: Images
Economic Observer: Lawyer: Rio Tinto Employees to Plead Guilty
Economic Observer: China Concludes Investigation Stage of Rio Tinto Bribery Case
Wall Street Journal: Rio Tinto Trial Opens