BEIJING, DEC 6: A well-known millionaire "philanthropist" and his cohort have been sentenced to life imprisonment for running a large, illegal loan scam in China's central Hunan province, state media said. Zhang Wanqi and his accomplice, Zhou Anmin, were sentenced to life in prison on charges of illegal fundraising and falsifying financial documents, the China Youth Daily reported Sunday. A third accomplice, Cheng Xinchuan, who worked as a manager of China Construction Bank's branch in Hunan's Changde city, was sentenced to 16 years in jail for taking bribes and dereliction of his duty in the case, the report said. According to the Changde City Intermediate People's Court, which sentenced the three, the men colluded to trick individuals and companies into depositing large sums of money into the bank branch, promising high interest and using the good reputation of the bank. They then used the deposited sums to make money through illegal loans to other companies, the report said. In April 1997, they prematurely took out 10 million yuan (1.2 million dollars) from a company's time deposit to deal with one of their debtors. In less than three years, the three men illegally raised 434 million yuan (52 million dollars) from 35 government bodies and seven people in Hubei province and the cities of Beijing and Tianjin, the report said.Their actions breached China's financial management regulations. News of Zhang's arrest came as a surprise to people in Changde, the report said. He was known for his donations to the city of 16.2 million yuan (1.9 million dollars) in anti-flood relief work, sports and various types of social welfare. He also held the title of honorary citizen and was a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee, an advisory body to the central government. "No one ever thought that behind these honorary titles were these criminal activities," the report said. The court ordered Zhang and Zhou to pay a fine of 400,000 yuan each. The three men have so far paid back only 166 million yuan of the money they took from bank depositors' accounts and still have not paid back the remaining 268 million yuan.
