Flower tycoon's 18-year jail term
(GANG BIAN, China Daily staff)
07/15/2003
Chinese-Dutch business tycoon Yang Bin - once listed as China's second-richest man - was sentenced to 18 years in jail and fined 2.3 million yuan (US$277,000) yesterday for commercial crimes. The ruling was handed down by Shenyang Intermediate Court in Northeast China's Liaoning Province. The court convicted Yang of contract fraud, forging financial instruments, bribery and illegally occupying and using farm land. One of Yang's companies, Shenyang Eurasia Industrial Co Ltd, was fined 5.6 million yuan (US$674,700) for its involvement in the case. The guilty verdict brought to a close a dramatic reversal of fortune for Yang, detained last October just days after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea named him head of a planned free-trade zone in Sinuiju, which borders China. Yang, chairman of Hong Kong-listed Euro-Asia Agricultural (Holdings) Co Ltd, planned to file an appeal, according to his lawyer. The 40-year-old was ranked as China's second-richest man by Forbes magazine in 2001 with an estimated fortune of US$900 million. He reportedly built his wealth through growing orchids and developing real estate, but authorities accused him of shady business deals. An afternoon newscast on China Central Television showed a wan Yang, dressed in his trademark white polo shirt, standing before three judges as the sentence was read. Yang was born in China but is a Dutch citizen. He moved to the Netherlands in 1987 and won asylum after 1989. His trial came amid a crackdown on possible tax and financial offences by major Chinese business figures. Shanghai tycoon Zhou Zhengyi and his companies have been under investigation by mainland and Hong Kong officials. Authorities in Shanghai say the companies are suspected of illegally using bank loans to speculate in the stock market. Agencies contributed to the story (HK Edition 07/15/2003 page1)
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