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Appeals of Rio Tinto case defendants rejected

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-17 14:51

SHANGHAI - A Shanghai court Monday upheld the convictions and sentences of three men jailed on corruption and commercial espionage charges involving the Rio Tinto mining company.

The Higher People's Court of Shanghai rejected the appeals by Wang Yong, Ge Minqiang and Liu Caikui, according to a court spokesperson.

A fourth defendant, Australian national Stern Hu, did not appeal after the verdict handed down on March 29 by the Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court.

They received jail terms from seven to 14 years for bribery and stealing commercial secrets.

According to a final verdict handed down by the Shanghai Higher People's Court Monday, the facts affirmed by the Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court were clear, the convictions and the sentences were appropriate and trial procedures were legal.

At the intermediate court, Stern Hu, born in 1956, was sentenced to 10 years in jail for bribery and stealing commercial secrets, his assets were confiscated and he was fined 1 million yuan ($146,413).

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Wang Yong, born in 1969, was jailed for 14 years. His assets were confiscated and he was fined 5.2 million yuan.

Ge Minqiang, born in 1975, was sentenced to eight years in jail, with his assets confiscated and a fine of 800,000 yuan.

Liu Caikui, born in 1978, received a jail term of seven years, with his assets confiscated and a fine of 700,000 yuan.

All their illegal earnings should be recovered, the court ruled.

The intermediate court found that Hu took bribes of 6.46 million yuan, and Wang took bribes of 75.14 million yuan. Bribes taken by Ge were 6.94 million yuan, and those by Liu 3.78 million yuan.

The court verdict said that from 2003 to 2009, the four used improper means to acquire commercial secrets from Chinese steel companies. The information they obtained was used to jack up the prices that China paid for iron ore imports.

According to the intermediate court, last year more than 20 Chinese steelmakers paid extra advances totaling 1.02 billion yuan for their iron ore imports because of the crimes committed by the four.