[Deathpenalty] [SPAM] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 15



CHINA:

Financial fraud death sentence reviewed


China's Supreme People's Court is reviewing the death sentence handed down in 
the case of a businesswoman who cheated investors out of multi-million dollars.

Wu Ying's case sparked debate nationwide over whether the sentence was too 
severe.

Court spokesman Sun Jungong said yesterday that the court would scrutinize the 
facts and evidence during the review process and prudently handle the case.

Wu, 31, who dropped out of school as teenager, built a business empire from a 
single beauty salon in just three years, Xinhua news agency reported.

But she was arrested in 2007, and the Intermediate People's Court of Jinhua in 
eastern Zhejiang Province found she had illegally pooled 770 million yuan 
(US$122 million) from private creditors between 2005 and 2007 to fund her 
businesses under the Zhejiang-based Bense Holding Group.

Wu cheated investors into pouring in money by making false promises of high 
returns. At the time of her arrest, she still owed 380 million yuan.

Wu had told victims she would use the money to register companies, invest in 
projects and make loans.

The Jinhua court said she had "brought huge losses to the nation and people 
with her severe crimes, and should, therefore, be severely punished."

Its death penalty was upheld last month by Zhejiang's Higher People's Court, 
leading to widespread debate over whether the punishment was too harsh for an 
economic crime.

Many people, including legal experts, called for leniency.

"Sentencing Wu to death is a shame on China's legal system," said Wang Wei, 
chairman of the Chinese Museum of Finance, on his microblog.

Wang said that Wu's case was a by-product of China's current financial 
environment in which a fundraising system was evolving. "It's unfair to blame 
one person for the defective banking system," Wang said.

Economist Han Zhiguo said: "The Supreme People's Court should listen to the 
public and give more tolerance to private lending activities."

Wu, who was, in 2006, the sixth richest woman on China's mainland with personal 
assets of 3.6 billion yuan, began by raising money from friends.

She offered them deals that included guarantees of 80 percent interest a year 
and 5 percent daily returns.

Her debts had reached 14 million yuan by the end of 2005 but she expanded the 
scheme in 2006. She began to look for more investors in Zhejiang, offering even 
higher interest.

(source: English People's Daily)






SINGAPORE:

Indian gets death penalty for killing fellow countryman in Singapore


An Indian construction worker has been awarded death penalty on charges of 
murdering his fellow countryman here, local media reported on Wednesday.

Periyasamy Devarajan, 20, who was accused of killing 31-year-old Raju 
Arivazhagan on February 8 this year, was convicted by a court on Tuesday, The 
Straits Times reported.

Devarajan, a native of Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, was in remand for one 
week before being prosecuted for murder charge, which carries a mandatory death 
sentence.

Arivazhagan was working in Singapore for past 6 years. He went missing on 
Tuesday last after celebrating the South Indian Hindu festival of Thaipusam in 
the Little India precinct.

Later, his body was recovered by police from under a flyover Thursday last.

(source: NDTV)