China on Tuesday urged the United States to repatriate or extradite two bankers sentenced for racketeering and money laundering in the United States and help recover the money stolen by them.

China welcomed the verdict by the US federal court, which sentenced Xu Chaofan and Xu Guojun, both former managers with the Bank of China, and their wives to prison terms of eight to 25 years, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told a regular press conference..

The four should be repatriated or extradited to China as soon as possible, Ma said.

US District Court Judge Philip Pro in Las Vegas handed down the sentences on May 6.

Xu Chaofan was sentenced to 25 years in jail and Xu Guojun to 22 years. Their wives, Kuang Wan Fang and Yu Ying Yi, were sentenced to eight years in prison.

All four were sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay US$482 million in restitution.

The four were found guilty of a racketeering conspiracy that began in 1991 and continued until October 2004. Prosecutors said the men laundered stolen money through Hong Kong, Canada and the United States, including US$3 million deposited at several Las Vegas casinos.

"Facts have proved that wherever and for how long criminals are at large, they are doomed to be severely punished by the law, thanks to international judicial cooperation," Ma said.

"Their conviction and sentencing in the United States was another positive result of China-US law-enforcement cooperation," Ma said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2009)