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Shanghai tycoon sentenced to 16 years in prison

A Shanghai real estate tycoon, who was once one of China's richest men, was sentenced yesterday to 16 years in prison following a trial for bribery, tax receipt forgery and embezzlement, state media reported.

Zhou Zhengyi (周正毅) was arrested in October last year amid a probe of government misconduct that brought down the Shanghai Communist Party secretary and other city leaders. Zhou, 45, earlier served a three-year prison term for fraud and stock manipulation.

Xinhua news agency reported Zhou's 16-year sentence after a closed hearing yesterday, citing unnamed sources at the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court.

Financial magazine Caijing said Zhou also was fined 3.35 million yuan (US$453,000).

Zhou's trial was held a little over a month ago.

Zhou's lawyer, Ma Shuning, had switched off his mobile phone and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Zhou, also known as Chau Ching-ngai, started out as a noodle vendor but eventually amassed a fortune estimated by Forbes magazine in 2002 at US$320 million. He is believed to have since lost much of his wealth.

Zhou's wife, Mo Yuk-ping (毛玉萍), was convicted in Hong Kong in 2005 of conspiracy to defraud and perversion of justice for manipulating shares in her husband's company.

Four of Zhou's former jailers were sentenced to prison for taking bribes from the tycoon in exchange for giving him access to a phone, extra visits from friends and family, and other special treatment during his earlier incarceration. The former director of the prison received 11 years and the others each got two years.

Zhou's re-arrest came as investigators were wrapping up the wider probe into alleged bribery and other abuses connected to the misuse of city pension funds.
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