Yan now a convicted criminal
The Herald reports:
One of New Zealand’s most controversial citizens has been convicted of money laundering.William Yan – also known as Bill Liu, Yang Liu and Yong Ming Yan – pleaded guilty to the serious criminal charge in March. Name suppression was lifted at the sentencing hearing in the Auckland District Court this morning.The 45-year-old millionaire businessman will spend the next five months serving home detention in a luxury apartment in downtown Auckland. …Yan’s Kiwi citizenship and political connections have been at the centre of years of controversy.He arrived in New Zealand in 2001. He first made headlines for his links to the previous Labour Government’s decision to give him a New Zealand passport in 2008, despite having multiple identities and an Interpol alert against his name.After lobbying from Dover Samuels, a Labour MP at the time, former Labour Party Minister Shane Jones overruled the advice of Department of Internal Affairs officials, who said Yan did not meet the good character test for citizenship.Jones, who is widely rumoured to be preparing to stand for New Zealand First in the upcoming election, said he granted citizenship because he believed Yan would be executed if sent back to China.
Which was bullshit then and proven bullshit now as he has been back to China. Jones knew he was wanted for criminal offences in China and Australia, had multiple identities, yet still gave him citizenship against the strong advice of officials. They then presented it to him in a special ceremony in the Labour Caucus Room.