A Chinese court has sentenced an Australian businessman to 13 years in jail for bribery and embezzlement, Bloomberg reported. Matthew Ng is expected to appeal the sentence, handed down by a court in Hangzhou, according to the government in Canberra. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Treasurer Wane Swan have raised the case in meetings with Chinese officials in recent months. The case recalls the imprisonment in 2010 of Stern Hu, an Australian convicted of accepting bribes while working for Rio Tinto Group (RIO.NYSE). “Authorities tried the case in accordance with the law” and “followed the Australia-China consular agreement,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said. But Ng’s lawyer, Chen Youxi, claims the case has been used as leverage in an attempt to gain control of Ng’s travel company, Et-China. The company’s chairman received a 16-year sentence, while the chief financial officer was sentenced to three and a half years, also on embezzlement charges.
Categories