Shenzhen tycoon on trial for theft

Forbes-listed businessman charged with stealing state assets

A Shenzhen businessman who was ranked by Forbes magazine as one of China's richest men has been on trial for stealing state assets, mainland media reported yesterday.

Zhou Yiming , 32, director of the Shenzhen Minglun Group, is accused of stealing about 550 million yuan from a mainland-listed electricity company between 2003 and last year. Zhou was tried at the Intermediate People's Court in Suining city, Sichuan, last week with five others, newspapers said. No verdicts have been handed down.

Zhou was the founder of Shenzhen Minglun Group, an electronics and food processing company. Forbes last year ranked him as the 207th richest man in China and one of the youngest millionaires. His personal fortune was estimated at US$121 million.

He was arrested earlier this year on charges of falsifying financial information, stealing state assets and business fraud.

Zhou paid 110,000 yuan to a Shenzhen accounting firm to help him forge company audit reports, the court was told. The fake audit reports put Shenzhen Minglun Group's net assets at 1.2 billion yuan, while the company was actually deep in debt and paid only 3,145 yuan in taxes last year.

The prosecutor said Zhou used the falsified financial information to borrow 422 million yuan from three state banks. He then used the loans to acquire a 28 per cent stake in Sichuan Mingxing Electricity, a main supplier of electricity, water and gas to 3.8 million residents of Suining.