Chinese official arrested for hoarding 3 tons of cash.

The Second Branch of the Tianjin Municipal Procuratorate has issued a decision to arrest Lai Xiaomin in accordance with the law. The case is still under investigation and processing. Previously, on October 15, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection - National Supervisory Commission of China announced a "double expulsion" (expulsion from the Party and dismissal from public office) disciplinary action against Lai Xiaomin for "going against the Central Committee's monetary policy guidelines, accepting bribes and exchanging power for favors, abusing power recklessly, becoming depraved and morally corrupt."

Lai Xiaomin.

To reach a disciplinary decision against Lai Xiaomin, the agency decided to conduct an investigation starting in April 2018 after rumors circulated in the public about "Party Secretary Lai Xiaomin having 100 mistresses, 100 houses, and 100 relationships." Caixin reported that investigators found a massive amount of cash of various denominations hidden in Lai's home, totaling 3,105 kg, with a total value of 270 million yuan (US$39.1 million). If stacked together, the 100-yuan banknotes would weigh more than 3 cubic meters.

However, that's just the "tip of the iceberg." On November 9th, the "Economic Observer" published an article stating that the Lai Xiaomin case involves hundreds of people, and with the current resources, the investigation cannot be completed within the next three years. According to the report, two sources with access to the investigation revealed that Lai Xiaomin's assets related to the case amount to over 1.6 billion yuan (5.6 trillion VND); this does not include other valuable assets he actually owns, such as real estate.

One of these two individuals told "Economic Observer": Since being investigated in April 2018, Lai Xiaomin has revealed the names of hundreds of people connected to him; using Lai Xiaomin as the trigger, the fight against corruption in the banking and monetary sector has only just begun. "Based solely on the case's circumstances and the number of people implicated as revealed by Lai Xiaomin, with the current resources, it might not even take three years to complete the investigation."

Public records indicate that Lai Xiaomin, born in 1962 in Jiangxi province, was a member of the 12th National People's Congress (2013-2018). After graduating from the Department of Economic Planning at Jiangxi University of Economics and Finance in 1983, he worked at the People's Bank of China, holding positions such as Deputy and Head of the Capital Planning Department, Deputy Director of the Loan Management Department, and Deputy Director of the Supervision and Management Department. In 2003, when the China Banking Regulatory Commission was established, he transferred to become the Director of the Beijing Municipal Banking Supervision Bureau, Party Secretary, and Director of the China Banking Regulatory Commission Office.

In 2009, Lai Xiaomin left the banking supervision system and became Deputy Secretary and Director. From September 2012, he was appointed Party Secretary and Chairman of China Huarong Asset Management, a state-owned asset management and distressed debt investment agency established by the Ministry of Finance and China Life Insurance Group. After taking over leadership of Huarong, the company's assets continuously increased. By the end of 2017, total assets reached 1.87 trillion RMB (US$270 billion), net assets were 182.6 billion RMB, and net profit in 2017 reached 26.6 billion RMB; in 2016, it ranked 184th among the top 500 strongest companies in China.

When Lai Xiaomin was expelled from the party, he was accused of accepting bribes and "blindly expanding and conducting business without order," causing Huarong to seriously deviate from its core business of investing in bad debt. It is known that from 2014 to 2017, Huarong issued US dollar-denominated bonds worth up to US$50 billion.

Huarong's exploitation of preferential financial policies to borrow from banks at low interest rates, followed by reckless acquisitions and lending at high interest rates, has put the company in a precarious situation. Following the announcement of Lai Xiaomin's investigation on April 17, 2018, the Financial News reported that Huarong's total debt had reached 1.69 trillion yuan, causing its stock price on the stock market to immediately plummet by 38.7%.

Regarding Lai Xiaomin's nickname "Three Hundreds," Caijing explained: Lai Xiaomin owns more than 120 houses, has over 100 connections with influential figures in politics, business, and banking, and has over 100 mistresses, including dozens of women within the Huarong Company and "even famous actresses."

According to Duowei on November 9th, an investigator stated that among the women Lai Xiaomin "exchanged power for sex," many were female employees of Huarong Company. "Some women, in order to secure a certain position, included provocative photos of themselves in their resumes sent to Lai Xiaomin to gain his attention and favor."

Lai Xiaomin also showed his chivalry towards beautiful women. Of his more than 120 houses, he gifted 100 to his ex-wife and mistresses, turning them into a "Garden of Eden," a place for revelry. The fact that over 100 mistresses and ex-wife, from diverse backgrounds and social statuses, lived together harmoniously without conflict is hard to imagine.