The Ninth Circuit has determined that a Chinese national involved in a scheme to embezzle public funds had committed a serious nonpolitical crime. “A large financial crime in the nature of theft, such as embezzlement, is normally a serious nonpolitical crime. To rebut this presumption, the applicant must ‘identify . . . facts showing that his offense had some ‘political aspect’ or ‘political objective.’” The court found that even if the prosecution of this crime was politically motivated, the crime itself was motivated solely by economic greed, and had no political angle to it. However, the court remanded for further consideration of the petitioner’s Convention Against Torture claim, finding that evidence suggests that Christians face torture in China.
The full text of Guan v. Barr can be found here:
http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/05/30/17-71966.pdf