Criminals Punished for Forging and Trading Chinese Bank NotesThe Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court Thursday, December 28, upheld a ruling made by a lower court to sentence seven criminals to death for forging and purchasing Chinese currency bank notes.Earlier this year, the Intermediate People's Court of Shanwei City handed down a ruling that seven principal members of a 12-men criminal ring, including Zhuo Zhenyuan, are sentenced to death, and three other criminals, including Gao Xibo, are sentenced to life imprisonment, while two others, who committed minor crimes are sentenced to imprisonment of 12 years and ten years, respectively. After the ruling was made, all 12 criminals appealed to the Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court. After court investigations, the higher court proved that the 12 defendants counterfeited Chinese currency bank notes nine times in areas of Guangdong province including Lufeng, Puning, Huilai, Shantou and Shanwei, from March 1995 to May 1999. The amount of forged bank notes totaled 641.65 million yuan (US$77.3 million). The case is considered the largest of the kind in terms of amount of Chinese currency bank notes being forged. In Thursday's final judgment, the criminals' appeals were turned down by the Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court. The court said that the ruling by the Intermediate People's Court of Shanwei was given based on clear, accurate and adequate evidence, and the process of trial was also found to be in line with the legal procedures, so the ruling is properly made and should be maintained. |
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