Home appliance tycoon Gu Chujun has submitted an appeal to his 12-year jail sentence delivered last month while another four defendants involved in his case have also challenged a Guangdong court's decisions.

 

Gu, Jiang Baojun, Yan Yousong, Zhang Xihan and Liu Yizhong all have sent appeals to Guangdong Higher People's Court, China Business News reported today.

 

Gu, 50, former chairman of Guangdong Kelon Electrical Holding Co, was handed the prison term along with a fine of 6.8 million yuan (US$944,445) for falsely stating the registered capital of a company, failing to disclose major information and embezzling 313 million yuan, Foshan Intermediate People's Court ruled on January 30.

 

Gu, a native of Jiangsu Province, sent his appeal after the court's decision that day, the report said.

 

Seven other defendants, who were high-ranking executives at Kelon or its former parent Greencool Enterprise Development Co, received jail terms ranging from one year to five years for their involvement in the case.

 

Only one defendant, Zeng Junhong, a director of Kelon's purchase center, was acquitted.

 

The Foshan court said Gu sent forged files to Shunde Administration for Industry and Commerce by stating falsely that Greencool's registered capital was 660 million yuan in order to acquire Kelon, the country's biggest refrigerator maker, in 2001.

 

He also disclosed false financial information to the public to prevent Shenzhen-listed Kelon from being delisted, which caused huge losses to shareholders, the court said.

 

Gu and two senior officials embezzled 313 million yuan from Kelon and Yaxing Motor Coach Company and injected the capital into Gu's private company, the court said.

 

He was detained in 2005 with several other officials after the China Securities Regulatory Commission started an investigation into his misconduct.

 

Gu, once a celebrity entrepreneur who reportedly propelled Kelon to become the forerunner in China's competitive white-goods sector, started off as a researcher at Tianjin University in the 1980s.

 

Gu once told the court that he has information on "the biggest corruption case since the foundation of the People's Republic of China," according to previous reports.

 

(Shanghai Daily February 14, 2008)