China court hands down stiff jail terms and fines for Rio Tinto four

Stiff jail sentences and fines have been handed down by a Shanghai court for the four Rio Tinto employees accused of stealing state secrets and corruption

Posted: Monday , 29 Mar 2010

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -

A Shanghai court on Monday sentenced a Chinese-Australian executive of Rio Tinto to 7 years in prison on Monday on charges of accepting bribes and 5 years on charges of stealing commercial secrets.

The Shanghai Intermediate People's Court said Stern Hu, who headed Rio Tinto's iron ore operations in China, will serve 10 years, with part of the sentences running concurrently, and will also be fined 500,000 yuan ($73,250), and have 500,000 yuan worth of assets confiscated.

Three other Rio executives, all Chinese nationals, were also sentenced to between 7 and 14 years in prison on bribery and secrets charges.

The court said the infringement of commercial secrets caused a great loss to Chinese steel mills, putting them in a disadvantageous position in iron ore pricing talks.

Lawyer Tao Wuping, acting for one of the Chinese citizens, said they had not decided whether to appeal.

Hu had pleaded guilty to accepting bribes but disputed the amount of 6.46 million yuan ($946,300) alleged by prosecutors.

Wang Yong, who headed a Rio Tinto iron ore sales team in China, was sentenced to 14 years, fined 200,000 yuan and will have 5 million yuan of assets confiscated.

Ge Minqiang received 8 years with a fine of 300,000 yuan and 500,000 yuan confiscated, while Liu Caikui was given 7 years with a fine of 400,000 yuan and 300,000 yuan of assets confiscated.

Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said on Monday that "by any measure" the China-Rio verdict were tough sentences.

($1=6.826 Yuan) (Reporting by Shen Rujun and Lucy Hornby; Editing by Ken Wills)

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