Mandingo
New Member
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070215/ap_on_re_as/china_ant_fraud;_ylt=AlS0o1Fjz9EJiR7FKj8ErtUBxg8F
BEIJING - A Chinese business executive was sentenced to death for swindling $385 million from investors in a bogus ant-breeding scheme, a court official said Thursday.
Wang Zhendong, chairman of Yingkou Donghua Trading Group Co., lured 10,000 investors between 2002 and 2005 by promising them returns of up to 60 percent on their stake in two companies that existed only on paper, the Xinhua News Agency said.
Only $1.3 million of the swindled money had been recovered when the case was filed last June with the Intermediate People's Court in Yingkou, a port city in northeastern China, Xinhua said.
Prosecutors told the court that one investor committed suicide after realizing he had been duped, Xinhua said.
On Tuesday the court sentenced Wang to death, said an official in the court's case office who gave only his surname, Yin.
Fifteen managers of the company were given prison terms ranging from five to 10 years and fined from $12,800 to $64,000, Xinhua said.
Fake investments and pyramid investment schemes have become common during China's transition from a planned economy to a free market. Chinese leaders have tried to eradicate the scams, fearing widespread losses could add to already percolating social unrest.
The death penalty is used broadly in China. Though usually reserved for violent crimes, it is also applied for non-violent offenses that involve large sums of money or are deemed to have a pernicious social impact.
BEIJING - A Chinese business executive was sentenced to death for swindling $385 million from investors in a bogus ant-breeding scheme, a court official said Thursday.
Wang Zhendong, chairman of Yingkou Donghua Trading Group Co., lured 10,000 investors between 2002 and 2005 by promising them returns of up to 60 percent on their stake in two companies that existed only on paper, the Xinhua News Agency said.
Only $1.3 million of the swindled money had been recovered when the case was filed last June with the Intermediate People's Court in Yingkou, a port city in northeastern China, Xinhua said.
Prosecutors told the court that one investor committed suicide after realizing he had been duped, Xinhua said.
On Tuesday the court sentenced Wang to death, said an official in the court's case office who gave only his surname, Yin.
Fifteen managers of the company were given prison terms ranging from five to 10 years and fined from $12,800 to $64,000, Xinhua said.
Fake investments and pyramid investment schemes have become common during China's transition from a planned economy to a free market. Chinese leaders have tried to eradicate the scams, fearing widespread losses could add to already percolating social unrest.
The death penalty is used broadly in China. Though usually reserved for violent crimes, it is also applied for non-violent offenses that involve large sums of money or are deemed to have a pernicious social impact.
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I'll bet he never steals again
