By Sam Tobin
LONDON (Reuters) -The billionaire co-chairman and CEO of Chinese developer Guangzhou R&F Properties Co Ltd on Wednesday agreed to be extradited from London to the United States, where he is facing bribery charges.
Zhang Li, who co-founded Hong Kong-listed R&F, is wanted on a provisional warrant issued in the Northern District of California that accuses him of participating in a scheme to bribe public officials between 2015 and 2020.
The 69-year-old, who is currently worth $1.6 billion, according to Forbes magazine, is alleged to have paid kickbacks to obtain permits for a construction project in San Francisco.
He appeared at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, where he agreed to be extradited to the U.S.
Zhang’s case will now be sent to Britain’s interior minister to decide whether to approve his extradition.
Lawyers representing U.S. prosecutors told the court at a hearing in December that Zhang was involved in the payment of bribes to officials in San Francisco for the benefit of R&F’s U.S. affiliate, Z&L Properties Inc.
R&F previously said that Zhang was accused of bribery because of provision of “banquet dinner and hotel accommodation” to the former San Francisco public affairs chief who was visiting China.
In December, Zhang was granted bail on the condition that he pay a security of 15 million pounds ($19 million), the joint-largest security that an English court has ever accepted.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by Sarah Young)
