The martyred Cyprus Investment Programme may theoretically be a thing of the past, but it continues to preoccupy the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus with hypotheses that can hardly be believed.
The above reference in this case is to Yapping Li, who was an official of the Communist Party of China, became a naturalized Cypriot and was punished with execution in his homeland for embezzlement of an amount approaching half a billion euros.
The case, however, does not end with the execution of his death sentence in China. Now, the Cyprus Police is handling and investigating the cases of three other persons allegedly related to the same case.
The reason is the son of the aforementioned, Suchao Li, who is wanted by the Chinese authorities along with two friends of the Li family. Yuedong Chui and his mother Meiji Chui.
All three have been naturalized Cypriots and a serious case with financial offenses is being investigated against them. They are believed to have been involved in efforts to launder the huge sums embezzled by the deceased Yapping Lee.
Icing
Last August, as part of the investigation of the case, the Police, through the Attorney General and the Unit for Combating Cover-up Offenses, following a relevant request, froze two properties, one in Limassol (€14.5 million) and one in Tsada, Paphos (€2.5 million), with a total value of €17 million. related to the disputed naturalizations.
In fact, because the three persons, Suchao Lee, Yuedong Chui and the latter's mother, Meiji Chui, were not located to be served with the decrees, they were made public based on the legislation.
Via Interpol
The tangle of the case for the Cyprus Police began to unravel when they received a notification from Interpol in June 2020 about Suchao Lee. The latter, according to the message, was wanted by the Chinese authorities, for the crime of contractual fraud, in violation of an article of the Chinese penal code, which carries a life sentence in case of conviction.
As a result, in October 2022, the Council of Ministers decided to strip him of his citizenship, with Suchao Lee, however, receiving legal remedies to overturn this decision.
The dimensions
The case took on incalculable proportions in September 2023. At that time, the Ministry of Interior of Cyprus found from international databases that Suchao Lee's father, the then 63-year-old Yaping, was involved in a corruption case in China.
The interesting point is that before he realized who Yaping was, he and his son had managed to become naturalized Cypriots (in 2019 and 2016, respectively). They had jointly invested in the purchase of a house in Limassol for the amount of €14.5 million.
An investigator of the Cyprus Police, in the context of a request before the Court against the three persons who are now subject to investigation (Suchao Li, Yuedong Chui and Meiji Chu), characteristically testified that Yapping Li "served as Secretary of the Communist Party of China in the Committee "Hohhot Municipal Economic Technological Development Zone Working Committee" (March 2011 August 2019) and was involved in a serious corruption case. Furthermore (...) in September 2018, he was investigated by the Chinese authorities for serious violations of the law on suspicion of corruption and bribery, and in addition in August 2019, he was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party and removed from office for the offenses of corruption, bribery and embezzlement of money from the state amounting to 3.07 billion Chinese yuan (about 426 million euros). In September 2022, this person was sentenced to the death penalty, deprivation of his civil rights for life and confiscation of his assets, against which he appealed."
He was executed as a "Cypriot"
The outcome for Japing was tragic. As the Cyprus Police was informed via Interpol in 2025, the former Chinese official was arrested in 2019 - two months after obtaining a Cypriot passport - and in 2023 he was convicted of his offenses. His conviction was also upheld by a second-instance judiciary in China, while he was executed with the approval of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China, on 17/12/2024.
He wanted to be named Leonidas Loukas
It should be noted that Yuedong Chui, a family friend of the Lees, after the naturalization of himself and his wife in July 2017, proceeded, together with his wife Shuhuang JIANG, to Affidavits before a Registrar at the Paphos District Court with the intention of changing their names to "Francis CUI" and "Elena JIANG".
Suchao Lee tried to do the same. The latter and his wife made the same request to change their names to "Leonidas LOUCAS" and "Rhea LOUCAS" respectively.
In addition, the Police, in a request to the Court, states that the purchase of all the properties, on the basis of which the persons involved were naturalized, was not completed.
Publications in relation to laundering
According to the evidence presented by the Cyprus Police for the purpose of issuing freezing orders for the two properties, what is believed is that both Suchao Li, as well as their family friend Yuedong Chui, had collaborated with Yapping Li to launder the exorbitant sums that the latter managed to secure with fraudulent actions.
In investigations carried out by competent authorities of the Republic of Cyprus, publications were found on the internet in relation to the conviction of Yapping Lee. These seem to relate to the period from 2007 onwards and even include the acquisition of real estate through forged documents/procedures in cooperation with other persons.
Mass media reports brought before the Cypriot authorities show that luxury goods were purchased in the context of the case, such as works of art, jewelry, wines.
There are allegations of money being transferred to Macau for gambling.
In addition, the Yapping Li case has been described as the largest case of corruption in Inner Mongolia, since it appears to have received almost 500 million. dollars from bribes that were channeled to various shell companies.
Besides, in the context of a request by the Chinese authorities in the Republic of Cyprus to freeze Suchao Lee's assets, it is noted that attempts were made to launder the money embezzled by the latter's father in Cyprus by buying a number of properties.
The Cyprus Police
The offenses investigated by the Cyprus Police for Suchao Lee, Yuedong Chui and Meiji Chui:
>> Money laundering offences, in violation of the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering Laws of 2007 to 2026, Article 4 (Law 188(1)/2007, as amended).
>> Ensuring registration with False Representations, in violation of the Penal Code, Article 305 (Cap. 154).
>> Offences in violation of the Civil Registry Law of 2002, Articles 88, 113(2), 113(3)(d), 113(3)(e) and 116 (Law 141(I)/2002).
>> Conspiracy to Defraud, in violation of the Penal Code, Article 302 (Chapter 154).
