By Xinhua writer Yan Hao
BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Huang Guangyu, former chairman of Chinese electronics retail giant Gome, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Tuesday after being convicted of illegal business dealings, insider trading and corporate bribery.
At the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, Huang was also fined 600 million yuan (88.23 million U.S. dollars) and ordered to forfeit 200 million yuan worth of assets.
Huang, also known as Wong Kwong-yu, was once the richest man in China's mainland and the former legal representative of both Gome and Beijing Pengrun Real Estate Development Company. Huang was arrested in 2009.
His two firms, Gome and Pengrun, were fined 5 million yuan (735,000 U.S. dollars) and 1.2 million yuan respectively for paying bribes, the court statement said.
Huang was found to be liable for the bribes given by the two companies as he was personally involved or directed others to do so, said the statement.
As the major shareholder of Shenzhen-listed Beijing Centergate Technologies (Holding) Co., Ltd., Huang was found guilty of insider trading of the company's stocks, with a total value of more than 1.415 billion yuan, from April to September 2007.
These dealings earned him more than 309 million yuan in trading profits.
He directly bribed or had others bribe five government officials with 4.56 million yuan in cash and properties from 2006 to 2008 in exchange for corporate benefits, it said.
The statement said the court found Huang's crimes to be extremely serious, but showed leniency because he had admitted guilt and assisted with the criminal investigation.
According to a report on China National Radio, Huang's two sisters and mother were present at the court. Yang Zhaodong, one of Huang's defense attorneys, said Huang stayed calm after the sentence.
Huang, who was detained by Beijing police in November 2008, built Gome Electronics into China's biggest appliance retailer and was listed by the Hurun Report as China's richest man in 2004, 2005 and 2008.
