Local courts in three Chinese cities issued sentences to 10 people involved in dealing in fake corn seeds and counterfeit lard, the Supreme People's Court announced Friday.
Li Pingyun, from Tai'an City of Shandong Province, east China, was sentenced to seven years in jail and given a 400,000 yuan fine, for selling 60,000 kg of fake corn seeds in 1988, which caused a loss of 3.15 million yuan to local farmers.
Lin Liequn, a businessman from Shenzhen, was given the death penalty with a two-year reprieve and fined 3.5 million yuan, for illegally importing and wholesaling industrial lard which was sold to local consumers through local dealers. The sale has led to the poisoning of about 1,000 consumers and the death of other three.
The five local businessmen, He Huaping, Huang Huaxiang, Wu Ganchi, Luo Weihua and Huang Junhai, were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 2-15 years, and fined a total of 170,000 yuan.
Xu Ruizhang and Wu Genyuan, two former local officials from Zhao'an County of Fujian Province, were sentenced to 11 years and 10 years imprisonment, respectively, on convictions of taking bribes. The two were found to have protected local criminals who were involved in the making and selling of fake cigarettes and other illegal activities.
(Xinhua 01/19/2001)
