A business chief who led a scam?that conned some 2,000 people out of more than 110 million yuan (US$13.6 million) and defrauded his own company?was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on December 30, 2005, China Daily reports today.

Wang Risheng started the racket when he became manager of the Guangzhou Molong Technology and Trade Co Ltd in June 2001.

He siphoned off most of the firm's funds for himself, while giving only a fraction back to investors and bonuses for his employees.

The Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court said that Wang, a native of Suixi County of south China's Guangdong Province, was also the principal of a scam in which a total of 2,077 people were swindled.

The court found that Wang could not return more than 99.9 million yuan (US$12.3 million) out of the total swindled money.

Another 13 defendants were also jailed for terms ranging from two years and four months to 12 years.

Wang organized a ring of 13 people after he became the general manager of the company.

By June the following year Wang had opened a total of 11 branches, which were found to mainly engage in fraudulent activities.

The court said that Wang and his accomplices called people, claiming they were carrying out a social survey to lure them to visit the websites of two "manufacturing bases."

His company also held promotional activities by inviting some pop stars to try to convince people to invest money. Many invested all of their savings in Wang's fake investment projects, such as beverage sales and real estate development, after visiting the websites.

Most victims were middle-aged or pensioners who were attracted by claims of annual returns ranging from 15 to 50 percent.

Police detained Wang in September 2003.

"Now Wang has been sentenced to death, how can our investment money be returned?" asked a victim surnamed Zhang from southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Zhang had invested all his savings totaling 15,200 yuan (US$1,874) for one project after he was told by the company that more money could be returned after investment.

(China Daily January 6, 2005)