China nets wanted economic fugitive

BEIJING - Chinese police on Saturday captured one of the 100 wanted economic fugitives who fled overseas, as part of the country's intensified hunt for graft suspects.

According to a statement of the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), police and procuratorate agencies, under the command of the Ministry of Public Security, seized Dai Xuemin Saturday morning, the first being netted among the 100.

Dai, the former manager of a trust and investment company, is suspected of embezzling funds of 11 million yuan ($1.77 million). He fled the country in August 2001, and returned recently with a fake ID and foreign passport.

Dai has been subject to criminal detention and investigations.

Interpol's National Central Bureau of China on Wednesday released a list of 100 persons wanted worldwide, including 77 men and 23 women allegedly involved in corruption.

The move is part of the "Sky Net", a campaign to repatriate corruption suspects. Sky Net combines the government, Communist Party, central bank and diplomatic services. According to the CCDI, those on Wednesday's list were only a fraction of the targets.