Sanlu assets to be auctioned off

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-13 22:19

BEIJING - The assets of the dairy company at the centre of China's melamine-tainted milk scandal that killed six children will go up for auction early next month, the official news agency Xinhua said on Friday.

The auction comes after Tian Wenhua, the former chairwoman of the Sanlu Group, was sentenced to life last month and fined $3.6 million for her role in the scandal.

Sanlu had borrowed $132 million to pay medical fees for the 300,000 children that fell ill last year after they drank milk laced with melamine, a toxic industrial compound, adding to its debt burden, said Xinhua.

Earlier this month, Tian appealed her life sentence saying her trial lacked evidence.

Tian was convicted last year at Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court of manufacturing and selling fake or substandard products.

Two men were sentenced to death and three former Sanlu executives received jail terms of five to 15 years.

The scandal was the latest in a string of food safety failures that have tarnished the image of goods made in China.