Financial swindler jailed for life in E China

An east China court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for forging financial documents to get 10.13 billion yuan (1.64 billion U.S. dollars) from banks and companies.

Liu Jiyuan, 45, former president of an investment management company in Shanghai, was accused of swindling 10.13 billion yuan from several banks and enterprises between November 2008 to November 2010, according to a court ruling issued by the Jinan Intermediate People's Court in Shandong Province on Friday.

Liu forged seals of banks and companies, loan materials, certificates of deposit and telegraphic transfer as well as cheques for transfer. Liu was also accused of pretending to be bank staff to illegally gather deposit from enterprises, according to the ruling.

Some 8.29 billion yuan was retrieved after Liu's case was exposed.