Financial fugitive returns to China to face law

(AP) Chinese authorities say a bank branch manager who fled to Canada to evade financial fraud charges almost eight years ago has returned to China and turned himself in.

The Chinese Ministry of Public Security said late Monday that Gao Shan, head of a Bank of China branch in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, swindled large sums of money from several clients between 2000 and 2004 before fleeing overseas. State media say the frauds involved nearly 1 billion yuan ($151 million).

Gao's legal counsel Alex Ning has told The Canadian Press that Gao returned to China voluntarily and that he did so because he was living "with a cloud over his head."

Several Chinese who have committed financial and economic crimes have sought shelter in Canada in recent years.