Boss jailed for a year for refusing to pay workers

A boss who absconded with the wages of 15 migrant workers he had employed has been sentenced to a year in prison in Henan province.

The Yicheng District People's Court heard on Wednesday that despite receiving 320,000 yuan ($51,340) in payment for a five-month construction project, contractor Liu Quande, 43, from Runan county in Zhumadian, refused to pay the workers around 150,000 yuan in wages.

After three months, the workers sought the help of the local government's working supervision division in October 2011, which summoned Liu in January and ordered him to pay them within a week.

Instead, Liu left town, the prosecutor said. He was arrested at a rented house in the downtown of Zhumadian in June.

The prosecutor said Liu had maliciously refused to pay the workers. Liu claimed that his family had already paid the workers about 50,000 yuan before he was caught, but that he now regretted his actions.

Lai Di, 62, one of the workers, said he was owed 1,200 yuan.

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