China corruption convictions abroad a warning: media

BEIJING (Reuters) - The convictions of two former Bank of China managers and their wives for money laundering and racketeering in the United States will send a warning signal to Chinese officials on the risks of corruption, state media said.

A U.S. federal jury in Las Vegas last Friday convicted Xu Chaofan and Xu Guojun, former branch managers at the Bank of China <3988.HK><601988.SS>, and their wives in connection with a scheme to defraud the bank of at least $485 million over 13 years.

The official China Daily on Tuesday cited Zhang Yong, head of law research at Nankai University, as saying the case, along with a separate one in which a Chinese national was repatriated from Canada for prosecution, would serve to warn officials that they could not escape from legal repercussions overseas.

The cases offered preliminary signs of the type of cooperation that law enforcement officials in China would carry out with those in the United States and Canada, Zhang said.

"I'm convinced it's the trend for the future," the paper quoted him as saying.

China faces a serious official corruption problem, which it is trying to stamp out through a range of measures, including heavy sentences, including the death penalty. Sentencing in the U.S. case will be on November 24.

(Reporting by Jason Subler; Editing by Ken Wills)