The Higher People's Court of southwest China's Sichuan Province has upheld the life sentence given to Forbes-listed tycoon Zhou Yiming, who was found guilty of committing fraud involving millions of US dollars.

The Sichuan provincial court upheld the judgement passed by the Intermediate People's Court in Suining, which ordered that Zhou be jailed for life. The court also confiscated his property and deprived him of his political rights for life, sources told Xinhua on Monday.

Zhou, 33, forged financial records of his Shenzhen Minglun Group Ltd. in 2003 in order to borrow 380 million yuan from three banks, which he then used to acquire a 28-percent stake in the Sichuan Mingxing Electric.

The Suining court said Zhou began to siphon capital from the Sichuan company after he gained control, acquiring about 550 million yuan with the help of several accomplices.

The Sichuan Mingxing Electric is a major supplier of water, electricity, and gas to 3.8 million residents in Suining.

When the listed company decided to sell a 28-percent stake, worth 380 million yuan on the stock market, in August 2002, it had 100 million yuan worth of capital and no debt, making it an attractive target for investors, including Zhou.

Police found that in March 2003, Zhou paid 110,000 yuan to the Shenzhen Zhongxi Accounting Firm to help him forge an audit of his personal finances.

The fake reports showed the Shenzhen Minglun Group had net assets of 1.2 billion yuan when in fact the company was 280 million yuan in debt.

The Suining court also handed down prison sentences ranging from three to five years to five of Zhou's accomplices.

Zhou appealed to the Sichuan higher court after being sentenced last December.

He was the first company executive in China to be convicted of fraud by siphoning capital from a listed company. In the past, similar suspects were convicted of crimes of "property conversion" or "obtaining a company registered by making false financial reports."

The punishment for fraud can be up to a life sentence while the maximum for "property conversion" is 10 years in prison.

(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2007)