Dalian court sentences three to prison for fraud

Zhou Zhifeng and two accomplices were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on Friday for orchestrating a massive illegal fundraising scheme that swindled over 24.4 billion yuan ($3.4 billion) from investors, according to the Dalian Intermediate People's Court in Dalian, Liaoning province.

Zhou received a life sentence and was deprived of political rights for life. The fundraising fraud and money laundering assets were confiscated. Co-defendants Wang Changdong and Lu Hong were sentenced to 16 and 14 years imprisonment, respectively, alongside fines.

The court found that from September 2015 to August 2023, the trio operated through "Shanhai Group" without financial regulatory approval.

They distributed leaflets, organized tours, and falsely claimed the group possessed substantial assets and annual revenues of hundreds of millions. Concealing the entity's lack of legitimate operations and profitability, they lured investors with high returns.

Zhou and Wang further laundered illicit proceeds through stock purchases to conceal their crime.

"The illegal fundraising severely disrupted national financial order, causing enormous losses to victims across multiple regions," the court stated, justifying the severe penalties based on the crime's nature, scale, and social harm.

Authorities have been tracing and seizing involved assets, including cash, stocks, equity, properties, and vehicles, since the defendants' arrest. These assets will be returned to victims following the verdict's enactment.