Huang's wife, Du Juan, was sentenced also on Tuesday to three years and six months in prison and fined 200 million yuan for insider trading. The couple has ten days to lodge an appeal.
Prof. Zhang Huiming with Fudan University in Shanghai, said it was not easy for Huang, a high school dropout, to make the appliance chain into a giant, profitable company, so he sought government protection by bribing officials.
"Advantages gained through bribing government officials can not make the company truly competitive in the market," Zhang added.
A statement from Gome after the sentence's announcement said the company respected the judicial decisions and that the 5 million yuan fine would not substantially impact its business.
Known as the "Price Butcher" for its low prices, Gome has more than 560 stores in more than 160 Chinese cities, including in Hong Kong and Macao.
Huang Guangyu and his brother founded the firm as a small home appliance store in Beijing in 1987.
Huang resigned as Gome's chairman in January 2009.
Related:
Chinese home appliances tycoon Huang Guangyu stands trial in Beijing
BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Huang Guangyu, former chairman of Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings, went on trial Thursday on charges of illegal business dealings, insider trading and bribery at the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court.
The procuratorate has charged Huang with illegal foreign exchange trading via Hong Kong in 2007 and insider trading of Shenzhen-listed Zhongguancun stocks.
The procuratorate has also accused Huang of offering bribes of 4.56 million yuan (about 667,600 U.S. dollars) to a number of officials. Full story
Former chairman raises stakeholding to maintain control of Gome
BEIJIGN, August 3 -- Huang Guangyu, former chairman of Gome Electrical Appliance who is being investigated for alleged financial irregularities, has spent 549 million HK dollars (70.4 million U.S. dollars) to raise his stake in China's top electronics retailer to consolidate his position as the biggest shareholder, thwarting United States private equity firm Bain Capital LLC's attempt to take a bigger stake in Gome. Full story
