SHIJIAZHUANG -- A gang leader in north China's Hebei Province was
sentenced to life imprisonment along with 43 accomplices, a local court ruled on
Wednesday.
Yang Shukuan, 38, who was arrested on March 19 last year, was
tried in the Zhangjiakou City Intermediate Court.
The court found him
guilty on multiple charges, including operating a criminal gang, intimidation,
fraud, inciting violence, fighting in public and disorder. He was fined 500,000
yuan (about $70,000).
In addition, 43 others were sentenced to prison
terms.
The court found Yang, who owned the Tangshan Huayun Industrial
Group Co. Ltd., had swindled more than 60 million yuan from another company
between 2005 and 2006.
He also operated a gang of ex-convicts and
unemployed in Tangshan, about 200 kilometers from Beijing, between 2002 and
September 2005. "They illegally possessed guns, ammunition and other firearms,
persecuted ordinary citizens and seriously disrupted the local economic and
social order," the court said.
Yang came into the public spotlight when
photos of his armored car and other military vehicles and luxury cars were
posted on the Internet last year.
Police sources said 17 vehicles,
including four for special purposes, were confiscated.
Chinese law
prohibits the illegal possession, production and trade of firearms and
explosives.
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