Wealthy Chinese businesswoman handed suspended death sentence for fraud

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Wealthy Chinese businesswoman handed suspended death sentence for fraud

Wang Wenling convicted of raising 480 million yuan promising high returns, then failing to pay investors, according to a newspaper report

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 11 February, 2015, 12:53pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 11 February, 2015, 2:58pm

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Wang Wenlin, pictured here flanked by police, owned shops, jewellery and department stores, hotels and entertainment venues. Photo: Xiamen Daily

A wealthy businesswoman from eastern China has been given a suspended death sentence for fraud, according to a newspaper report.

Wang Wenling, 53, was convicted by a court in the city of Xiamen of raising 480 million yuan (HK$605 million) from investors promising high returns, but then failing to pay up, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.

The newspaper said Wang had founded more than 60 companies and was one of the richest women in the city.

She set up firms in Xiamen, Hong Kong and Malaysia and owned shops, jewellery and department stores, hotels and entertainment venues, the report said.

She fraudulently raised the cash from 257 investors between 2008 and 2011.

Fraud in raising capital is “rampant” in China and Wang’s case was one of 74,907 instances of illegal fund raising among private investors in Fujian province last year, according to the report.

Wang’s case has echoes of the jailing of the woman tycoon Wu Ying in eastern Zhejiang province.

She was initially sentenced to death for defrauding investors out of about 770 million yuan in 2009, but this was later reduced to a suspended death sentence on appeal.

Wu, a farmer’s daughter, started making headlines in 2006 as a mysterious businesswoman whose fortune was estimated at 3.8 billion yuan.

She said she had acquired her start-up capital legitimately from the profits of foreign trade and by speculating in jewellery, property and commodity futures.