Wanted Man Hands Self Into China Amid COVID Fears Abroad

Story By: John FengSub-EditorJoseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

This Chinese tax fraud suspect handed himself in to police after 10 months on the run in another country saying he felt safer in China during the ongoing pandemic.

Mr Huang, 37, who was wanted for falsifying VAT invoices, fled China in May 2019 and hid in Cambodia before identifying himself to local embassy staff last month.

Mr Huang, who is from Pingyang County in the city of Wenzhou in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang, was flown in to Wenzhou Longwan International Airport on 23rd March.

AsiaWire

Images from the airport show the mask-wearing tax evasion suspect having his identity verified by awaiting police, who took him back to give a formal statement.

The authorities said they managed to obtain Mr Huang’s mobile phone number abroad and repeatedly called him in a bid to convince him to turn himself in.

He finally had a change of heart when the pandemic began earlier this year.

AsiaWire

He reportedly told cops: “It’s far too chaotic abroad. No one can live a normal life or have regular work.

“I’ve been living in fear every day, and I’ve come home to save my own life.”

Mr Huang was given a health screening and has been placed in 14-day mandatory quarantine.

He will be formally processed after he leaves isolation and is cleared by health officials.

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