Thai users share staged clip as genuine footage of ‘Bank of China ex-chairman after death sentence’

Thai social media users have shared a staged video of a man being taken away with the false claim it is genuine footage of the former Bank of China chief after he was sentenced to death for corruption in November 2024. The video was published months before the banker’s verdict was announced by a user who frequently uploads scenes from Chinese television series.

“When the chairman of the Bank of China was sentenced to death, his knees became so shaky he could barely walk,” reads a Thai-language X post published on March 10, 2025.

The post continues: “This fear shows how sacred China’s laws are, unlike the corrupt 80 percent from the Thai government sector.”

Berlin-based Transparency International ranked Thailand at 107 out of 180 countries in their 2024 corruption index (archived link).

The accompanying 33-second clip shows a uniformed man struggling to walk out of a police station before another man steps in to support him. 

Liu Liange, former chairman of the Bank of China, was handed a suspended death sentence in November 2024 for accepting “extremely large” bribes of 121 million yuan ($16.7 million) (archived link).

Liu’s sentence may be converted to life imprisonment after two years, according to Chinese law.

Liu’s sentencing was the latest development in a decade-long anti-graft campaign launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose proponents say promotes clean governance but has also been seen as a means for Xi to purge political rivals.

Similar posts on Facebook also shared the video and claimed it depicts Liu after he received his sentence, misleading other users.

“There would be no politicians left if Thailand handed capital punishment on corruption charges,” read a user comment.

But a reverse image search on Google found the video was staged.

Fictional video

The video was uploaded to Chinese video sharing platform Bilibili on September 1, 2024, months before Liu was sentenced to death (archived link).

The title reads: “Asked to meet with the disciplinary council for the first time and feeling emotional”. Nowhere does it mention the death sentence or graft.

The user who uploaded the clip also left a comment stating it was a staged scene and featured actors, urging viewers not to “take it seriously”.

The user regularly uploads videos clipped from popular Chinese “crime dramas” including “In the Name of the People” and “We Are Criminal Police” (archived links here and here).

Inconsistent elements

A close inspection of the video shows the man walking shakily is not Liu — the former Bank of China chairman can be seen in this photo provided to state news agency Xinhua by the Jinan Intermediate People’s Court in Shandong where he received his sentencing (archived link).