Chinese Businessman Sentenced for $2.3 Billion in Fraud

Chen Jihong of Dezheng Resources handed 23-year prison sentence

Workers move rolls of aluminum at a factory in Zouping in China's eastern Shandong province on April 7, 2018. China said on April 6 it is ready to pay "any cost" in a trade war after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened an additional $100 billion in tit-for-tat tariffs on Beijing. AFP/Getty Images

Chen Jihong, implicated in a massive metal warehousing scandal in 2014, has been sentenced to 23 years in prison. His company, Dezheng Resources, was fined over 3 billion yuan ($438 million) on Dec. 10.

Chen, 50, was accused of defrauding multiple companies of over 12.3 billion yuan ($1.79 billion) and engaging in fraudulent loans worth more than 3.6 billion yuan ($520 million). He was also accused of having paid a bribe of more than 8 million yuan ($1.16 million) to high-ranking ex-official Mao Xiaobing who was sentenced to life in prison for corruption last year.