The former boss of Formula 1 racing in China has been sentenced to four years in prison for embezzlement.
Yu Zhifei, 55, was convicted yesterday by the Wuhu Intermediate People's Court in Anhui Province for misappropriating 1.05 million yuan ($144,000) from the State-owned football club of which he was chairman, his attorney Zhang Tiefeng told China Daily.
He was found to have embezzled money on two occasions, in 1997 and 1999, from Shanghai Shenhua Football Club to buy property.
Yu was the club's board chairman from 1993 to the end of 2001.
In February 2002, he became China's Formula 1 racing circuit boss.
According to the indictment released earlier, in 1997, Yu purchased a 172 sq m apartment in the downtown area of Shanghai for about 2.5 million yuan, more than twice the housing allowance for his position.
Before 1998, employees of government agencies and State-owned enterprises were given houses or compensation payments.
The housing allowances were calculated based on employees' length of service and position.
The football club paid 1.18 million yuan toward the cost of the apartment with the rest coming from funds Yu embezzled.
He was arrested in January last year.
Yu was said to be close to Shanghai's sacked Party chief Chen Liangyu and his son Chen Weili.
Investigations into the city's 3.4 billion yuan social security fund scandal, for which Chen Liangyu was sacked and arrested, led to the downfall of Yu.
Under Chinese law, major trials that involve senior officials are heard away from where the alleged crimes took place to prevent potential political influence.
Suspects in the social security embezzlement case were tried in Shanghai, Jilin and Anhui provinces.
Most suspects have now been either tried or prosecuted.
Last month, Qin Yu, Chen's long-term secretary, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the High People's Court in Jilin.
Chen is yet to face trial.
The Wuhu court ruled yesterday that the amount of money embezzled by Yu was large but decided to hand down a lenient sentence - a four-year jail term and a 300,000 yuan fine - because Yu had voluntarily confessed.
Yu paid back the embezzled funds after his arrest.
However, Yu considered the punishment too harsh, his attorney said.
"He will probably appeal to a higher court," he said.
Source: China Daily
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