What’s new: Chinese billionaire Sun Dawu was sentenced to 18 years in prison on multiple charges, a court in the northern province of Hebei said Wednesday.
Sun, founder and chairman of Hebei Dawu Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Group, was convicted of provoking trouble and disturbing public order, obstructing public service, illegal mining, encroachment on state farmland and illegal fundraising, among other charges, the court in Gaobeidian said.
Sun was also fined 3.11 million yuan ($477,860). Dawu Group and several others were also penalized, the court said.
The background: Sun, 67, built the Dawu Group in the 1980s from a small business of raising chickens and pigs. The company later grew into a conglomerate with a wide range of businesses. Sun is the controlling shareholder with 43.75% as of November 2020.
Sun was detained in November along with several others from his company. He was sentenced in 2003 to three years in prison for illegal fundraising with a reprieve.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com)
Follow the Chinese markets in real time with Caixin Global’s new stock database.
