Chinese police solved the forgery of government documents committed by fugitive Guo Wengui

The Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau says it has solved a mystery surrounding the forgery of national-level documents by one of China's most-wanted fugitives, Guo Wengui. Two suspects, Chen Zhiyu and Chen Zhiheng, are being held in connection with the case in Chongqing.

The Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau holds a press conference on the forgery of national-level documents by one of China's most-wanted fugitives, Guo Wengui, on Monday, April 23, 2018. [Photo: China Plus]

Case review

According to a case briefing held in Chongqing on Monday, since last August, Guo Wengui, a fugitive in the United States and on an Interpol Red Notice, has fabricated a large amount of information and leaked the so-called facts on the Internet, aiming to seek political asylum.

Guo incited and instigated twin brothers Chen Zhiyu and Chen Zhiheng to forge over 30 national-level official documents as the main content of his so-called "revelation" online, which were documents faked to be issued by the CPC Central Committee, the State Council, and its relevant ministries and commissions. 

On February 18, 2018, Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau arrested Chen Zhiyu and Chen Zhiheng in Guangdong Province and Hu'nan Province respectively, and seized items related to the case under legal process.

Under arrest, Chen Zhiyu and Chen Zhiheng have confessed to the crimes of forging national-level official documents.

National-level documents forged by Guo Wengui, one of China's most-wanted fugitives [Photo: China Plus]

Identities of the suspects 

51-year-old Guo Wengui is a fugitive on an Interpol Red Notice. He holds Hong Kong resident status and is the controlling stakeholder of Henan Yuda Investment Co., Ltd. and Beijing Pangu Investment Co., Ltd.

41-year-old Chen Zhiyu was born in Dongguan, Guangdong Province. He formerly held leaders' position in Guangzhou Social Medical Insurance Services Administration and other governmental departments and has lived in Canada since resignation in 2012.

Chen Zhiheng is the younger twin brother of Chen Zhiyu. He acquired Canadian citizenship in 2008 and is currently the Technical Director of a science and technology company in Guangzhou.

Forgery Committed by Chen Zhiyu and Chen Zhiheng at the Provocation of Guo Wengui

In May, 2017, Guo Wengui publicly offered rewards for so-called "confidential documents" of the Chinese Government, which was deemed as a profitable opportunity by Chen Zhiyu and Chen Zhiheng. The former reached out to Guo under the pseudonym "Zhou Guoming".

Guo started working with Chen Zhiyu in August, 2017. They agreed that a 4,000 US dollars monthly salary shall be paid to hire Chen Zhiyu, who would work full-time to provide needed materials for Guo's "revelation." Guo also promised to cover Chen's travel expenses and fees to purchase mobile phones, and contribute 50 million dollars to set up a fund at Chen's disposal. At the invitation by Guo Wengui, Chen Zhiyu met with Guo and his assistants in the U.S. four times.

At the incitement and instigation of Guo Wengui, Chen Zhiyu and Chen Zhiheng faked more than 30 national government documents disguised as being issued by the CPC Central Committee, the State Council and the National Security Commission, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and fed them to Guo Wengui. 

The faked documents involved "the nuclear issue in the DPRK," the so-called "united front work or liaison in the US science and technology community," "intelligence collection overseas" and "China's scientific research projects" among others claimed as "top-secret" and "confidential" materials.

Since last October, Guo Wengui, together with a US website, the Washington Free Beacon, continuously revealed the so-called "secret Chinese government documents" that Guo claimed to have been verified "genuine" by US government agencies, which aroused keen interest from the media and also attracted the attention of the U.S. State Department.

Relevant governmental departments in China have evaluated and identified that all the above-mentioned documents, saying they've turned out to be forgeries by Guo Wengui, Chen Zhiyu and Chen Zhiheng.

"Not their first time"

The police also found out that apart from working for Guo Wengui, the twin brothers had initiated a program of forging government documents since 2013 and sold them to overseas organizations and institutions for profit. 

Upon the arrest of the suspects, the public security bureau discovered a large number of forged government documents in their computers and portable hard drives. These documents were faked in the name by the CPC Central Committee, State Council, National Commission on State Security, the International Communication Office of the CPC Central Committee, State Commission Office of Public Sectors Reform, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, covering various areas such as military, national defense, foreign policy, united front work, financial policies, and budgets.

Chongqing public security authorities have now taken criminal coercive measures against Chen Zhiyu and Chen Zhiheng on charges of forging state government documents. 

Chinese authorities will cooperate with the US in law enforcement and request verification from their counterparts in the US regarding the fake documents claimed by Guo to be accredited by the FBI and other US governmental agencies, as well as multiple political contributions made by Guo to American Senators and former U.S. government employees. 

"We believe that law enforcement authorities in the U.S. would not accommodate such criminal activities, either," according to the police statement. 

More to be done

It's also been discovered in the investigation that Guo Wengui, together with Chen Zhiyu and Chen Zhiheng, fabricated information about multiple central-level leaders and several provincial-or-ministerial-level leaders regarding mistresses, illegitimate children born overseas, illegally possessed properties and enormous amount of deposits. 

Guo also fabricated and distorted information about other governmental departments, companies and citizens. 

"With severe violation of the law and negative impacts, the three have already been suspected of a serious crime. As the case is still undergoing further investigation, we will continue to release updates on its developments," read the police statement.