China sentences Australian CEO to 13 years in prison

[Zhou Zhou]

China sentences Australian CEO to 13 years in prison

Updated 1h 15m ago

 

BEIJING (AP) ¨C An Australian businessman detained in southern China was sentenced Tuesday to 13 years in jail for embezzlement and bribery, Australia's government confirmed.

 

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in an emailed statement that Matthew Ng planned to appeal the sentence, which was handed down by the Guangzhou Intermediate Court at a hearing Tuesday. Consular officials were present for the hearing, it said.

 

Ng is CEO of Et-China, a travel services company reportedly embroiled in a dispute with a local Chinese partner.

 

"We have made clear to Chinese authorities our strong interest in Mr. Ng's case," the Australian government statement said.

 

It said that Prime Minister Julia Gillard had raised Ng's case with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in April and that other Australian officials discussed it several times with their Chinese counterparts.

 

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the chairman of Ng's company, Zheng Hong, was sentenced to 16 years in jail and Et-China's chief financial officer, Kitty Yang, was given 3 1 / 2 years, both on related embezzlement and corporate charges.

 

The case follows the arrest and conviction last year in Shanghai of four employees of mining giant Rio Tinto, including Australian citizen Stern Hu, for bribery and infringing trade secrets. Hu was sentenced in April to 10 years in prison while three colleagues were imprisoned for seven to 14 years.

 

At the time of his arrest, Hu was in charge of Rio Tinto's troubled iron ore price negotiations with China, and the case raised worries over the vulnerability of employees of foreign companies to often selective enforcement of the country's vague state secrets and corruption laws.

 

An Australian government statement noted last year that Ng's charges are very different to the ones faced by Hu.

 

At the time of Ng's arrest in Guangzhou in November 2010, Australian media said the detention was related to a business dispute between Et-China, which has shares listed on the London Stock Exchange, and another local partner, Guangdong Lingnan International Enterprises.

 

The Australian newspaper said Tuesday that investors in Et-China were in closed-door negotiations with Lingnan and at least one other Chinese company over the disputed assets and were trying to strike a deal that would end Ng's court battle. The paper cited people close to the negotiations who were not identified by name.

 

The Australian newspaper reported that Ng was sentenced to 14 1/2 years in jail ¡ª eight years for embezzlement, two years for corruption, 2 1 / 2 years for a false capital declaration, and two years for bribery ¡ª but the sentenced was commuted to 13 years.

 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters at a regular press briefing that Ng's case was handled according to law and that assistance was extended to Australian consular officials.

 

Calls to the Guangzhou Intermediate Court seeking comment Tuesday were not answered.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.