CHINA: WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ‘ILLEGAL’ FUNDRAISING

A court in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang sentenced to death a woman convicted of “illegal fundraising” on the city’s unofficial money markets.
Lin Haiyan, 39, was handed the death penalty by the Intermediate People’s Court in Wenzhou city, after being found guilty of illegally raising 640 million yuan ($104.1 million) and misappropriating 428 million yuan ($69.6 million) of that amount.
Lin set up Wenzhou Xinfu Investment Consulting Co. in May 2008, raising money from more than 20 investors between 2007 and 2011 by promising to offer high returns, the court said in its judgment.
She then used all the money to buy stocks and futures, which resulted in huge losses, it said.
The court verdict also said Lin had been found guilty of acting as a trading agent for Hong Kong-based online broker Quam Securities without “authorization from the appropriate government departments,” the official English-language China Daily reported.
It said Lin had opened stock and future accounts under 20 different names and use the raised funds for futures trading, falsifying her losses and claiming huge profits to secure further investments from colleagues, friends, and relatives.
As with all death penalty cases, Lin’s case will now be submitted to the Supreme People’s Court in Beijing for review.