 |
Ezubao
reportedly swindled more than 900,000 investors out of US$7.6 billion, mainly
between 2014 and 2015, in what has been called China's biggest-ever Ponzi
scheme
|
Two senior executives of
a collapsed peer-to-peer lender were sentenced to life in prison and 24 others
punished over what has been called China's biggest-ever Ponzi scheme, state
media reported Tuesday.
AFP
report continues:
The
company, Ezubao, reportedly swindled more than 900,000 investors out of US$7.6
billion, mainly between 2014 and 2015.
The
brazenly luxurious lifestyles of top Ezubao bosses drew wide attention to the
long-running case -- one of several recent high-profile trials to shine a light
on pervasive fraud and corrupt practices in the Chinese financial industry.
The
company was alleged to have fabricated most of the projects on its website and paid
old debts with money from new investors.
Ding
Ning, head of Ezubao's parent company Yucheng Holdings, was sentenced by a
Beijing court to life in prison for charges ranging from fraudulent fundraising
to illegal possession of a gun, the People's Daily reported.
Another
top corporate official, Ding Dian, also received a life sentence.
The
court handed sentences to other defendants ranging from three to 15 years in
prison, and levied fines including a 1.9 billion yuan (US$290 million) penalty
on Yucheng.
Ding
Ning was said by Chinese media to have given his company president a pink
diamond ring and luxury villa in Singapore, while dressing his secretaries in
designer brands such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci.
As authorities closed in, company executives were reported to have buried financial documents in the ground near corporate headquarters in the eastern province of Anhui. It took police 20 hours to dig them out with two excavators.
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