Three former vice presidents of beverager Jianlibao Group have been sentenced to jail in Guangdong for stealing from the company’s staff welfare fund, state media reported. The Intermediate People’s Court of Foshan spokesman said Yang Shiming received an 18-year sentence and Li Qingyuan and Ruan Juyuan were each given 14 years. All three were fined RMB150,000 (US$20,000). The three were charged with embezzling RMB11 million (US$1.6 million) from the employee welfare fund to buy life insurance for themselves, former group chairman Li Jingwei and former vice president Yu Shanfu in June 2000. The former chairman’s hearing was suspended due to ill health. Once the country’s biggest beverage maker, Jianlibao was taken over by Taiwan’s Uni-President Group in 2005. The company booked a loss of almost RMB40 million (US$5.85 million) in 2008.
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