Sichuan tycoon Liu Han sentenced to death

Julie Zhu May 23, 2014 18:48

Liu Han cries inside the court during his trial last month. Photo: CCTV

Liu Han, the former chairman of Sichuan Hanlong Group, was sentenced to death for murder and leading a mafia-style crime ring, China Central Television reported Friday.

Liu’s younger brother, Liu Wei, was also sentenced to death. The sentences were announced by the Intermediate People’s Court in Xianyang in central China’s Hubei province on Thursday morning.

The Liu brothers, along with their 36-member "mafia-style" gang, committed intentional homicide, the court said.

All 36 people charged in the case, including three government officials, received jail terms. They included former police officers Liu Xuejun and Lv Bing of Deyang, and Liu Zhongwei, the former deputy prosecutor general in Shifang.

They were sentenced to 16 years, 11 years and 13 years in prison for taking bribes and helping hide crimes, according to a statement on the court’s official Weibo account.

Liu Han was chairman of the Hanlong Group, the biggest private enterprise in Sichuan province, the power base of former security tsar Zhou Yongkang. He owns tens of subsidiary companies engaged in electricity, energy, finance, mining, real estate and securities.

He was one of the top 500 richest people in China with a personal wealth of US$650 million, according to a wealth ranking published last September by the Shanghai-based Hurun Report, media reports said.

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Julie Zhu

Freelance journalist

Hong Kong

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