Habanos Co-Owner Chen Zhi Arrested, Sent to China

[MrBirdman]

This was posted in another thread and thought it deserved its own.

https://halfwheel.com/chen-zhi-habanos-s-a-co-owner-arrested-deported-to-china/459784/

Guessing he won’t be able to buy his way out of this one. We’ll see if this affects the mooted sale of his shares. If the Chinese government determines the Habanos stake was proceeds of his scam, they could seize the shares (although they could allow the sale since they’d probably prefer the cash). 

The punishment for one of his charges, bribery, carries penalties ranging from imprisonment to death in China. 

[chasy]

Wow this guy went from owing a chunk of Habanos to a very grim new reality.

[lb.cigars]

https://cigarrklubben.se/blogs/cigarrvarlden/breaking-news-habanos-swedens-tobacco-license-revoked

And there is this situation too.

[yuppie]

Huzzah! His terrible reign is over! 

[Cigar Surgeon]

I suspect he is not long for this world. 

[El Presidente]

Meanwhile....back at Havana Headquarters. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[unaslob]

Pretty crazy to amass that type of wealth over ‘pig butchering” scams. Now I see why I get all those random texts.

[MrBirdman]

4 hours ago, Cigar Surgeon said:

I suspect he is not long for this world. 

From what I can tell execution in bribery cases is typically reserved for public officials, but the human trafficking element means a death sentence is a forgone conclusion. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn’t make it past early 2027. 

He either agreed to the extradition as part of a deal (very unlikely but possible) or was caught totally unaware; it can’t be that hard to escape Cambodia if you have enough cash stowed away. Maybe we’ll hear more in time. 

[lb.cigars]

1 hour ago, MrBirdman said:

From what I can tell execution in bribery cases is typically reserved for public officials, but the human trafficking element means a death sentence is probably a forgone conclusion. I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t make it to 2027. 

He either agreed to the extradition as part of a deal (unlikely but possible) or was caught totally unaware; it can’t be that hard to escape Cambodia if you have enough cash stowed away. Maybe we’ll hear more in time. 

In Cambodia he was safe from the US, probably that's why he was still there. Maybe being arrested by the US would give him a better future life.

[MrBirdman]

3 hours ago, lb.cigars said:

In Cambodia he was safe from the US, probably that's why he was still there. Maybe being arrested by the US would give him a better future life.

He’d have a life to speak of. Whether that’s better off is a matter of perspective I guess. China has really been cracking down on scammers and handed out a bunch of death sentences this year. All were smaller scale than Zhi, so it seems inevitable that he’ll get one too. Then it’s a year or two at most waiting for appeals to be denied. 

[lb.cigars]

China is making a big deal about it.

[HP2]

The Chinese do better Perp walks then we do in the USA. 

[chasy]

Note to self - don't commit fraud in China.

[ElLoboLoco]

13 hours ago, MrBirdman said:

He’d have a life to speak of. Whether that’s better off is a matter of perspective I guess. China has really been cracking down on scammers and handed out a bunch of death sentences this year. All were smaller scale than Zhi, so it seems inevitable that he’ll get one too. Then it’s a year or two at most waiting for appeals to be denied. 

You’re saying if I understand, he would possibly rather be dead than go to a US prison?

 

[joeypots]

11 hours ago, ElLoboLoco said:

You’re saying if I understand, he would possibly rather be dead than go to a US prison?

Who knows?. My reading indicates China's government is complicit in the scamming industry. Maybe they'll make a example of him or maybe once he's in China any news about him will be scarce at best. 

[Li Bai]

21 minutes ago, joeypots said:

Who knows?. My reading indicates China's government is complicit in the scamming industry.

We should ask @LaoFan or @X-Man what's being told there about that Chen Zhi story, that would be interesting 🤔

[MrBirdman]

11 hours ago, ElLoboLoco said:

You’re saying if I understand, he would possibly rather be dead than go to a US prison?

I don’t know the guy - but he wouldn’t be the first to prefer the swifter end (albeit such people are certainly in a minority). It’s reported his maximum sentence in the US would be 40 years, but however long it was he would be immediately deported upon completing it. Technically he is stateless now, and the US has no extradition agreement with China, but I can’t imagine them allowing him to remain. In all likelihood he’d end up where he is now.

Worth noting that, in the US, he would almost certainly face solitary confinement for much if not all of his incarceration. I would take death over a lifetime of that (I personally think indefinite solitary is cruel except for inmates who have proven too violent to interact with others).

Now, if he was a US citizen, then he’d probably have already surrendered to the US if he caught wind of this. He’d have a shot, if long, of getting out before he dies, and it’s no secret right now that federal pardons are usually available at the right price (especially if he cooperated in finding other scammers). It would be a midnight pardon in 2029, but you couldn’t rule it out given others seen over the last 12 months.

Too bad the golden ticket program wasn’t rolled out until after his public infamy arose!

[MrBirdman]

7 hours ago, HP2 said:

The Chinese do better Perp walks then we do in the USA. 

That was ready made for TikTok - perp walk Gen-Z style!

[ElLoboLoco]

Interesting, solitary for life could do it. It’s probably hard to commit suicide in solitary unless you starve yourself. If I was sure I could avoid solitary, I’d definitely take incarceration and play it by ear. This went dark. 😳😅

[MrBirdman]

3 hours ago, ElLoboLoco said:

It’s probably hard to commit suicide in solitary unless you starve yourself.

Very difficult. The closest you can get is smashing your head against the concrete, but if you don’t succeed they’ll just pad your cell. The conditions in ADX Florence are so needlessly restrictive in many cases that their intent could only be to torment the prisoner. The government admitted as much in January when federal death row prisoners who’d gotten midnight commutations were ordered sent to ADX as additional punishment. Some residents have murdered inmates in other facilities - I get segregating them. But most are just notorious or particularly loathsome.

Even a former warden has become an advocate for reform. It’s an absolutely brutal existence and he’d probably face at least a decade there and no guarantees it’ll ever end. Not a pleasant prospect for someone under 40.