<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published August 30, 2008
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Former richest man gets 10 years' jail for illegal logging
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</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>(BEIJING) A Chinese businessman once listed as the richest in the country has been jailed for more than 10 years for illegal logging, state media reported yesterday.
Luo Zhongfu, 57, chairman of real estate company Fuhai Fuyingshi New Materials Technology Development Co, was found guilty of clearing a forest to make way for a resort development, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.
A court in Qingzhen city in the south-western province of Guizhou also fined him 50,000 yuan (S$10,330) for deforestation, illegal use of farmland and interfering with testimony. The charges focused on a decision by Luo in 2006 to clear part of a forest in Guizhou to make way for a US$47-million, 1,200-villa real estate project without first getting official permission, the paper reported.
Luo's wife Yang Xiurong, a politician in Guizhou, was sentenced to two years in jail on top of a 10,000-yuan fine for illegal land use and interfering with testimony, it said, adding that both had decided to appeal. Luo, a Guizhou native, was listed as China's richest man in 1994 and 1995 by US magazine Forbes. The Shanghai Daily reported that a business associate ordered several of Luo's employees to go abroad to avoid appearing in court. -- AFP
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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Former richest man gets 10 years' jail for illegal logging
<TABLE class=storyLinks cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
</TD><TD>Email this article</TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
</TD><TD>Print article </TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>(BEIJING) A Chinese businessman once listed as the richest in the country has been jailed for more than 10 years for illegal logging, state media reported yesterday. Luo Zhongfu, 57, chairman of real estate company Fuhai Fuyingshi New Materials Technology Development Co, was found guilty of clearing a forest to make way for a resort development, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.
A court in Qingzhen city in the south-western province of Guizhou also fined him 50,000 yuan (S$10,330) for deforestation, illegal use of farmland and interfering with testimony. The charges focused on a decision by Luo in 2006 to clear part of a forest in Guizhou to make way for a US$47-million, 1,200-villa real estate project without first getting official permission, the paper reported.
Luo's wife Yang Xiurong, a politician in Guizhou, was sentenced to two years in jail on top of a 10,000-yuan fine for illegal land use and interfering with testimony, it said, adding that both had decided to appeal. Luo, a Guizhou native, was listed as China's richest man in 1994 and 1995 by US magazine Forbes. The Shanghai Daily reported that a business associate ordered several of Luo's employees to go abroad to avoid appearing in court. -- AFP
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