Real estate tycoon sentenced

Shanghai property tycoon Zhou Zhengyi received a three-year prison sentence from Shanghai Number One Intermediate People's Court for document falsification and stock market fraud. Zhou, who in 2002 was ranked China's 11th richest man by Forbes magazine, was also ordered to pay fines totaling US$4.82 million for manipulating share prices and falsifying capital reports while running Shanghai-based Nongkai Development Group. Zhou is also being sued by residents of a Shanghai neighborhood demolished to make way for a Nongkai development project. The 2,000 residents who filed suit against Zhou claim they did not receive adequate compensation for their homes.