China’s vice kingpin given life sentence two years after facing prostitution, bribery charges
Liang Yaohui, former owner of five-star hotel at centre of southern city’s sex trade, also has all assets frozen
A former Chinese politician and hotel magnate who became a prostitution kingpin has been sentenced to life in prison two years after standing trial, local media reported.
Liang Yaohui was found guilty of organising prostitution, bid-rigging and corporate bribery by the Dongguan City Intermediate People’s Court, news portal Thepaper.cn reported on Tuesday. His lawyer, who was not named, was quoted as saying that the sentence was announced on Friday though a written verdict was not made available until Tuesday.
Liang was tried in 2015 alongside 46 of his associates following a major crackdown on vice in Dongguan, a major manufacturing base in southern China’s Guangdong province. He was then the owner of the five-star Crown Prince Hotel, which was regarded as a focal point for the city’s prostitution industry.
As well as handing down the life term, the court ordered the seizure of all of Liang’s properties, the report said.
Three of his associates – who were shareholders in the Crown Prince – were also handed life sentences, while the remaining 43 defendants were given prison terms of at least 16 months for their roles in organising prostitution and destroying evidence.