Death sentence upheld for China fraudster: state media

Never thought of the figures when it comes to China's iron fist when it comes to the death penalty, and here's one source. "China executes more people than the rest of the world combined, with the nation last year putting to death more than 1,700 people out of a global total of almost 2,400, according to Amnesty International." That's rather staggering - that's 71% of the world total. But man, what a scam. Read on.

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Death sentence upheld for China fraudster: state media
Mon, Aug 17, 2009
AFP
Source - AsiaOne

BEIJING - A court in eastern China has upheld the death sentence handed to an entrepreneur convicted of embezzling 970 million yuan (S$205 million) in a deer-breeding scam, state media said Monday.

The high court in Anhui province upheld the punishment for Tang Yanan, who convinced tens of thousands of people to send him money for a breeding centre for deer, which are prized in China for their horns, the Beijing News said.

Tang was first convicted by a local court in December 2008 of fraud and falsifying documents when he bilked up to 49,000 investors in seven Chinese provinces and regions, the report said.

Investigators have been unable to recover over 300 million yuan of the funds, leading at least one investor to commit suicide and prompting widespread calls for an investigation.

Deer horns are ground into powder and used in a variety of Chinese herbal medicines, including aphrodisiacs.

According to earlier press reports, Tang's company, the Wanwuchun Rural Technology Company, promised people high returns on their investment. A breeding centre was set up, but many investors never got their money back.

Twenty other people were convicted for their involvement in the scam.

China executes more people than the rest of the world combined, with the nation last year putting to death more than 1,700 people out of a global total of almost 2,400, according to Amnesty International.

As China does not publish full data on the death penalty, rights groups say the number of people executed could be far higher.