Court states fraudster's death penalty 'reasonable'

The conviction of the executed fraudster Zeng Chengjie, which caused national uproar, is legal and reasonable, said a statement published on the website of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) on Monday.

Zeng, who was executed in July, had caused severe disorder to financial markets as well as influencing social stability. The case was reviewed and the sentence was approved by law, the statement said.

Zeng, a real estate developer in Jishou, Hunan Province, was convicted in 2011 for the fraudulent fund-raising of sums of up to 3.45 billion yuan ($562 million) causing losses of some 600 million yuan.

Zeng's execution has been questioned because the court allegedly failed to inform Zeng's family of the date of execution so his family could not see him before sentence was carried out, Zeng's daughter told the Global Times previously. The court said that there were no up-to-date records for the family.

The SPC revealed that Zeng's illegal fund-raising led to one victim, Wu Anying, setting fire to herself, sustaining serious burns. There were also three mass protests. In 2008, over 10,000 people gathered at a rail station in Jishou and later thousands of people besieged the Jishou government offices.

More than 16,000 similar cases have been discovered since 2008, saving economic losses of nearly 50 billion yuan, according to a statement released after the meeting. It said that the number of illegal fundraising cases handled in 2012 was 79 percent higher than those of 2011. In both years more than 30 percent of suspects tried were sentenced to severe penalties.