(Yicai Global) Dec. 14 -- The billionaire chairman of Chinese real estate firm Guangzhou R&F Properties, who was recently arrested in the UK on US bribery charges, will probably be extradited to the US, the president of the UK Society of Chinese Lawyers told Yicai Global.

Zhang Li was arrested in London on Nov. 30. Zhang, who is also co-founder of the firm, has been accused of bribery for hosting a banquet and offering accommodation in China to the former head of the San Francisco Department of Public Works, Guangzhou-based R&F said on Dec. 12.

Zhang is taking legal action against the false claims, R&F added. He has since been released on GBP15 million (USD18.4 million) bail.

The US and UK governments have a bilateral extradition treaty, which is an ‘unequal’ agreement, Zhu said. A ‘probable cause’ is needed to extradite someone to the US from the UK, but only a ‘reasonable suspicion’ is needed to hand someone over to the UK from the US. A ‘probably cause’ is stronger than a suspicion and represents a reasonable basis.

Whether Zhang is extradited or not is up to the judge, Zhu said. The judge may refuse to do so if he thinks it will violate Zhang’s personal rights or if Zhang has health issues.

But it is likely that Zhang will be deported, Zhu said. Some 135 people have been extradited to the US from the UK since 2007, when the treaty came into effect, and 99 of them were due to non-violent crimes, he added.

Zhang is now staying in an apartment in the Thames City building which R&F once co-owned. R&F and CC Land Holdings bought the building for GBP470 million (USD580 million) in 2017. But, facing a liquidity crunch, R&F sold its 50 percent stake to Hong Kong-based CC Land in April for HKD2.7 billion (USD347 million).

Yicai Global visited the landmark development along the Thames River. The building has around 500 apartments and many of the apartment owners entering and leaving the building looked East Asian. One of the receptionists is even a fluent Mandarin speaker.

An employee who has been working at the apartment block for two years told Yicai Global that he has never seen Zhang and does not know where he is.

Zhang founded R&F along with Hong Kong billionaire Li Sze Lim in 1993. He ranked 556th on Forbes World’s Billionaire list in 2010 and took the 15th spot on the New Fortune China Billionaire’s list with CNY22.3 billion (USD3.2 billion) in 2013.

R&F became one of the leading real estate firms in southern China under Zhang’s leadership. It had sales of more than CNY130 billion (USD18.6 billion) in 2020, but later faced liquidity issues and defaulted on debt. The firm stabilized its situation by selling assets and completing a debt restructuring.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor