Zhejiang Higher Court Rejects the Appeal of One-time Business Tycoon Wu Ying

On January 18th, Zhejiang Higher People’s Court upheld the original death sentence of a one-time business tycoon, Wu Ying, chairman of Zhejiang Dongyang True Colors Group.

The verdict has sparked a public outcry calling for a more lenient punishment. In less than a month, a financial crime has evolved into a political incident. Many scholars from Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Zhejiang University, as well as some well-known lawyers, have written letters to plead to the Supreme Court.

Economist Zhang Weiying says on the China Entrepreneurs Forum, “If Wu Ying is sentenced to death for fundraising, I do not know how many people should be sentenced to death."

An Internet poll titled "Wu Ying Does Not Deserve to Die" shows that most voters do not think Wu Ying deserves the death penalty.

Wu Ying, a 30-year-old billionaire from Dongyang City, Zhejiang Province, was first arrested in 2007, and then she was charged with “fraud through illegal funding” in 2008. Wu filed an appeal against her death penalty in 2009. But on January 18th, 2012, Zhejiang Higher People’s Court upheld the death penalty.

She said in her appeal that the funds that she borrowed are used for investing in company business. She didn’t commit fraud, and the creditors are friends and relatives. It’s not public fundraising. The 11 creditors have also denied that they have been deceived.

According to the Financial Times, Wu Ying confessed during the trial that many high-ranking officials were involved in loan-sharking activities. It is reported that more than a dozen officials of Dongyang City wrote a joint letter to the judge asking for the death sentence for Wu Ying.

Chinese author Ye Tan also publicly said that Wu Ying’s case is a series of violations of law, regulations, and procedures, which reflects the enormous possibility that wealthy local authorities have become an organized crime syndicate.