A Chinese court yesterday freed on parole the wife of the former head of appliance giant GOME, prosecutors said, as the jailed disgraced tycoon battles for control over the empire he founded.
The Beijing high court upheld a 14-year jail sentence handed down in May to Huang Guangyu (黃光裕) for bribery and insider trading but commuted a three-year term given to his wife, Du Juan (杜鵑), and released her, prosecutors said in a statement.
Du had also been convicted in May of insider trading. Their lawyers had appealed on the grounds that the original sentences were too severe, prosecutors said.
The conviction of Huang, once listed as China’s richest man, completed a spectacular fall from grace for a high school dropout who built up his retail empire from scratch. He also was fined 800 million yuan (US$117 million).
Huang’s lawyer was not immediately available for comment, his office told reporters.
Du’s release indicates that she will be able to manage the family’s huge fortune directly — a considerable advantage as Huang tries to force out the company’s current chairman, Chen Xiao (陳曉).
GOME executives and US private equity firm Bain Capital have been mired in a bitter feud for control of the company with Huang.
Last week, state media reported that Huang’s family bought 120 million GOME shares in Hong Kong to up their stake to 34.78 percent from 33.98 percent, and was looking to continue to raise their stake.
GOME has called a special general shareholders’ meeting on Sept. 28 to discuss proposals from Huang, including removing Chen and canceling a mandate allowing the board to issue additional shares representing up to 20 percent of GOME’s share capital, which would dilute Huang’s holdings.
The company also said Bain Capital would convert its convertible bonds in GOME into equity before the meeting to strengthen its vote against Huang’s proposals.
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