China upholds death ruling for businesswoman

A Chinese court has upheld a death sentence for an entrepreneur once listed among the country’s richest women after she was convicted of a 380 million yuan (USD 60 million) fraud, state media said yesterday.
The supreme court of China’s eastern Zhejiang province on Wednesday rejected the appeal of Wu Ying, former head of Bense Holding Group, who was convicted for illegal fund raising, the Shanghai Daily said.
Wu was China’s sixth richest woman in 2006, according to the independent Hurun Report, which publishes luxury magazines in China.
Her private company, Bense, had business interests ranging from hotels to construction materials, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Wu raised money by promising returns as high as 80 percent annually to investors, but then used the funds to repay other debts. She borrowed more than 700 million yuan from 2005 to 2007.
In making the ruling, the court said she deserved “severe” punishment given the amount of funds involved.
The death sentence is still subject to review by China’s Supreme People’s Court, in line with Chinese law.
Authorities arrested Wu in 2007. She was first found guilty in December 2009 and then re-tried from April last year after she appealed.
China has cracked down on private lending – which flourishes in Zhejiang, the cradle of private enterprises – since last year after defaults raised worries of a debt crisis.
Private companies have turned to underground financing as major banks tend to favour large state-owned enterprises.
No one at the court in Zhejiang could immediately be reached for comment on Wu’s case.