The story of the would-be redevelopers of Plantation's Fashion Mall just took yet another strange turn, with partner Wei Chen's appearance on a Chinese government list of alleged economic fugitives.
Chen, who changed his name from He Yejun after immigrating to the U.S., is accused of embezzlement. Prosecutors say he was a high-level executive at a state-owned Chinese brewery who made off with about $120,000 in 1999 and has been on the lam in the U.S. ever since.
Both Chen and his former wife, Linda Huang or Hong Huang, appear on an Interpol list released in April by the Chinese government as part of Sky Net, an international initiative by President Xi Jinping to hunt down and repatriate alleged economic fugitives.
Speaking through a translator at home Wednesday, Chen declined comment on the case and his relationship with Huang. He referred questions to his attorney but provided no further information. Attorneys at Becker & Poliakoff, who have represented his companies for about a decade, declined comment.
Scott Marder, a Duane Morris partner who represents Chen's former business partner Zhen Zeng Du, said his client knew about Chen's past as head of the beer company but knew nothing about his alleged fugitive status.
"My client was as surprised as anyone to hear the allegations about the arrest warrant for Mr. Chen," Marder said Wednesday. "Mr. Du had no knowledge of that while they we doing business together."
Huang married Chen in 1998, and she left China the same year. The couple divorced in 2000. In 2003, Huang married a U.S. citizen and applied for citizenship, but authorities suspected the marriage was a sham. In 2010, U.S. immigration officials denied her citizenship application on suspicion of fraud. Chen is a naturalized U.S. citizen, but Huang's immigration status was unclear at deadline.
Huang and Chen jointly purchased a 4,171-square-foot condo for $2.2 million at the luxury waterfront Atlantic One at the Point in Aventura on April 28, 2014.
Huang and Chen were among 100 most-wanted alleged fugitives, nearly half of whom are said to be in the United States to avoid prosecution for money laundering, embezzlement, corruption, bribery and other financial crimes.
They share the list with business and political leaders like China's most-wanted fugitive, Yang Xiuzhu, former deputy mayor of Wenzhou in Zhejiang province. She was detained last year by U.S. immigration officials for allegedly entering the country on a fake Dutch passport. She is accused of embezzling more than $40 million before fleeing China in 2003.
"First of all you have to consider the source," said Fort Lauderdale attorney Thomas Messana, who doesn't represent Chen but represents his companies in bankruptcy litigation. "It is a totalitarian regime. Second, I believe he disputes it."
History of Allegations
Chen is no stranger to controversy playing out in public.
In the 1990s, he was swept up in a political scandal known as China Gate after he was photographed with other Chinese businessmen and then-President Bill Clinton. The photo was widely publicized during a congressional hearing and Justice Department inquiry into foreign funding for U.S. political campaigns.
Chen was not implicated in any wrongdoing, but Democratic fundraiser Johnny Chung, who introduced Chen to the Clintons, pleaded guilty in 1998 to election law violations, tax evasion and bank fraud.
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