Yorkshire flat seized by Serious Fraud Office over £17m bribery scandal in China

Jonathan Pritchard
By Jonathan Pritchard
Published 14th Jul 2023, 13:12 BST
A flat in Yorkshire has been seized by investigators for the Serious Fraud Office over links to a £17m bribery scandal in China.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has successfully argued to seize the property in the High Court on Friday (Jul 14). The flat, which was in Sheffield, was worth £200,000 – and the SFO also secured £8,000 in rental profits from Dr Guang Jiang, an agent who helped British technology company Sarclad Ltd to pay bribes to secure business in China.

An SFO investigation in 2013 revealed Sarclad had paid bribes to £17 million worth of contracts to provide technology services to steel production companies between 2004 and 2012. The majority of these corrupt contracts were facilitated by Dr Jiang, who acted as Sarclad’s agent in China. The company paid £6.5 million in penalties for its actions.

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Dr Jiang fled to China in 2014, and the SFO has been pursuing his assets ever since. So far, it has managed to recover £350,000 from his personal and company bank accounts. The investigation revealed the flat in Sheffield had been transferred into the name of one of Dr Jiang’s daughters in an attempt to conceal it, and details of the bank account which contained the rental income for the property.

At the High Court, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) successfully recovered a property worth £200,000 and over £8,000 in rental profits from Dr Guang Jiang, an agent who helped British technology company Sarclad Ltd to pay bribes to secure business in China.At the High Court, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) successfully recovered a property worth £200,000 and over £8,000 in rental profits from Dr Guang Jiang, an agent who helped British technology company Sarclad Ltd to pay bribes to secure business in China.
At the High Court, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) successfully recovered a property worth £200,000 and over £8,000 in rental profits from Dr Guang Jiang, an agent who helped British technology company Sarclad Ltd to pay bribes to secure business in China.

Lisa Osofsky, director of the Serious Fraud Office, said: “Criminals will try any means possible to conceal their tainted finances, including hiding dirty money with their closest family members.

"No matter the obstacle, we are committed to obtaining the proceeds of crime for victims and our country. We have recovered over £95 million for the British taxpayer in the last year alone."