Lovell asks about status of WIOC shares owned by jailed Chinese investor; Browne says Jinhua has none

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Harold Lovell, Political Leader of the United Progressive Party (UPP), is asking about the status of shares in the West Indies Oil Company Ltd. (WIOC) owned by Chinese-Canadian investor Xiao Jianhua.

Jianhua was fined and confined for 13 years in China, last Friday, August 19, after pleading guilty to bribery and other crimes that Chinese authorities said had “seriously jeopardized” the country’s financial security.

The Chinese billionaire has been said to control nearly 25% of WIOC’s shares and holds Antigua and Barbuda citizenship.

Since 2017 questions have been raised about his holdings in the company.

Lately, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said in Parliament that the Chinese investor’s interests in the company were being managed here in Antigua, but he did not elaborate.

With Jianhua’s conviction, Lovell is asking what has become of his shares and whether the Chinese Government will seize them, since it is going after his other assets globally.

The UPP Political Leader says there are still many unanswered questions related to this Chinese investor and his association with WIOC.

Meanwhile, to the surprise of residents on Wednedsay night, Browne stated, on an Observer Radio live feed, that Jianhua has no shares in WIOC. But, again, he did not elaborate.

There is speculation that Government Ministers are actually shareholders in Jianhua’s holdings in Antigua and Barbuda.

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5 COMMENTS

  1. The question I want to ask Gaston is this: ” Top Dawg, how is it that many of your investors are in jail- Peter Virdee, Saab Moran, Xiao Jianhua.

    Another question for Gaston:
    “Mr Weston indicated that many of the reputable hotel chains did not choose Antigua but went to Dominica and Grenada. Why?”

  2. Scamps of a feather 🪶 flock together it is just a matter of time till all the feathers get plucked and the truth will be revealed . It has been a trend with this administration attracting crooks and when everything come to light they find excuses

  3. “Another candidate in the UPP has declared that he has suffered from a bad heart for decades, that he doesn’t have to divulge his medical condition to the nation, yet he remains as a candidate after being afflicted by Covid-19. He also said that his experience with the disease was intense. Could he also be affected to the degree that his health could also be questioned?”

  4. As a lawyer Lovell knows the term Trustee. Yet he is asking about the shares owned by someone in the WIOC. A simple search of the Company Register would give him the answer. But yet he is counting on his supporters to think he is so smart for asking these questions. It’s a good thing Labour Party supporters have more brain than that. In short It is managed by a trust, and you will therefore not know who the shares belong to.

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