British risk consultant Peter Humphrey has appeared on Chinese state television, apparently confessing to charges he illegally bought and sold private information, amid a probe into corruption in the pharmaceuticals industry.
His apparent admission comes just days after Mr Humphrey and his wife were formally arrested by Chinese authorities, who on Tuesday publically accused the couple of "wantonly" obtaining a large quantity of information for use in their investigations.
The information allegedly included household registrations, information on international travel, and property records.
"I sometimes used illegal means to obtain personal information," Mr Humphrey said in Mandarin on state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) as he sat handcuffed wearing an orange vest.
"I very much regret this and apologise to the Chinese government."
The information allegedly included household registrations, information on international travel, and property records.
"I sometimes used illegal means to obtain personal information," Mr Humphrey said in Mandarin on state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) as he sat handcuffed wearing an orange vest.
"I very much regret this and apologise to the Chinese government."
Televised confession on Chinese broadcaster CCTV
The husband-and-wife team were first detained in Shanghai on July 10, along with around eight other individuals, as police probed bribery allegations against British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline, but were not formally arrested until August 19. Jason Cai, a Chinese investigator who worked with the couple, was arrested around the same time, according to reports citing a source with direct knowledge of the matter. However, he was not mentioned in the state media reports, and his arrest has not been announced.
Cai Hua, a Chinese criminal lawyer unrelated to Jason Cai, said it was difficult to say how heavy the penalty would be if the couple is convicted.
"For the most part, it rests on the extent of the damage the crime has done and the amount of information obtained," said Mr Cai.
The couple "confessed to the crime without concealing anything," the state-controlled Xinhua news agency reported. "[Humphrey's] actions seriously violated the personal privacy of Chinese citizens."
"Whether it's a Chinese person or foreigner engaging in illegal activities, public security organs will firmly crack down without holding back," the news agency, which is considered a mouthpiece for the Chinese government, said.
Mr Humphrey and Ms Yu, both well-known corporate investigators in China, run Hong Kong-based ChinaWhys, a risk consultancy that focuses on fraud and accounting for multinational businesses operating in the country. CCTV branded the consultancy a "profitable, but illegal business".
It is unclear whether the charges are directly linked to the investigation into GSK, though the drug maker is believed to have been one of Mr Humphrey’s clients in the past. CCTV reported that 126 people were arrested for privacy infringement in August, 26 of whom are under criminal detention.
GSK faces allegations from Chinese police that four sales executives funnelled up to £320m in bribes to doctors and healthcare officials to raise prices and win market share. The company has said its own probe into the matter has uncovered evidence which partly supports the accusations, but insists the individuals were acting outside GSK's controls.
French pharmaceuticals firm Sanofi and Swiss drug maker Novartis also face accusations of bribery in China, after whistleblowers from both firms made allegations in the Chinese media earlier this month.
Authorities have since launched an investigation into Sanofi, which isalleged to have bribed more than 500 Chinese doctors with Rmb1.7m (£179,000) in late 2007, to raise sales. The French drug maker said it took the accusations “very seriously” and has “zero tolerance” towards unethical practice.
Meanwhile Novartis has said it is launching an internal investigation intoclaims that a sales employee was instructed to give Rmb50,000 in bribes to doctors to guarantee Rmb640,000 in cancer drug sales in June and July this year.
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