Police said on Sunday that they are investigating two employees
of a Xinjiang-based company accused of involvement in loan fraud,
but denied overseas media reports of assault.
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A spokesperson from the Public Security Department of Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region said the reports were "groundless."
Some overseas media had reported that Ayixianmu Keyimu and Rozi
Memet, both employees of Akeda Industrial and Commerce Co. Ltd.
owned by Rabiya Kadeer, had been assaulted and harassed by police
during a fraud investigation.
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The spokesperson said that, after an investigation beginning April
22 this year, police had found evidence that the two were involved
in economic fraud.
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According to him, on November 19, 2002, Keyimu, a 34-year-old Uygur
woman, obtained a one-year loan of 200,000 yuan?(US$24,165)
from a local bank by mortgaging part of the estate on the third
floor of the Rabiya Commercial Building.
The loan has not been repaid, and the police said the estate had
already been transferred to others before it was mortgaged.
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On April 11, 2003, the spokesperson said Keyimu conspired with
Memet, a 28-year-old Uygur man, to obtain a 10-million-yuan
(US$1.21 million)?loan by offering forged certificates to the
bank.
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The evidence collected led police to believe that the two had
cheated banks for loans, and they put them under house arrest on
May 11 this year for further investigation, he said.
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The spokesperson said the police's actions were justifiable because
Keyimu and Memet were suspects in an economic crime, and that they
performed their duty and acted according to the law.
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No country under rule of law could remain indifferent to crimes
happening in its judicial domain, he said, adding that "some people
overseas had no regard for the facts in reporting the
case."?
(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2005)