The Hainan Intermediate People's Court in south China's Hainan Province recently upheld a ruling made by a lower court sentencing a couple to prison for nine years between them and a fine of over three million yuan.
According to local sources, the verdict of the Changjiang Li Autonomous County Court said that Zheng Qingshan and Fu Yan, a husband and wife team from Wenchang County, also in Hainan Province, illegally operated a private lottery business in the county seat of Changjiang from June 6, 2000 to August 18, 2000 by way of copying the seven-digit prize-winning numbers from the sports lottery officially run by Hainan Provincial Sports Lottery Administrative Center.
The couple earned more than 1.9 million yuan (about US$229,551) from 23 rounds of the illegal business, said the verdict.
Zheng and Fu were found guilty of illegally engaging in lucrative business and sentenced to jail terms of six years and three years, respectively, along with a fine of over 3.8 million yuan (about US$459,102) one month ago.
After the ruling was handed down, the couple appealed to the Hainan Intermediate Court for a retrial. The higher court rejected the couple's appeal and upheld the ruling made by the lower court.
(Xinhua News Agency 06/18/2001)
