Former executives of fugitive Guo sentenced, company fined

Three former executives of fugitive Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui were convicted of fraudulently obtaining loans and bill acceptance on Friday and two of them were sentenced, a court in Henan province said.

Zhang Xincheng, former financial director of Henan Yuda Real Estate Co, controlled by Guo, was sentenced to two years in prison, while Guo Lijie, the company's former deputy manager, was sentenced to 18 months with a two-year reprieve, according to a statement of the Kaifeng Intermediate People's Court.

Another defendant, Xiao Yanling, the ex-deputy head of the company's financial department, was convicted of fraudulently obtaining bill acceptance, but she was exempted from criminal penalty as she had voluntarily surrendered and her crime was lighter than others, the statement said.

Zhang and Guo Lijie were also slapped with fines, while the company was asked to pay 150 million yuan in fine, it added.

The court said the three defendants fraudulently obtained loans and bill acceptance of nearly 1.5 billion yuan by registering shell corporations, forging contracts and employing fake investment projects from 2008 to 2015.

The three said on Friday that they accepted the convictions and will not appeal to higher court.

In July, when the case was publicly heard, they said they did the crimes under orders of Guo, who fled abroad about three years ago.