TWO American citizens and two Chinese bank officials have been given severe jail sentences for leaking state secrets.
The Chinese-Americans - Franciso Hung Moy, 45, and Raymond Lee, 44 - were found guilty in a case involving 200 falsified standby letters of credit amounting to US$10 billion (HK$77.18 billion).
The Hengshui, Hebei province, branch of the Agricultural Bank of China, the country's main bank for rural investment, was involved in the scam.
The Hengshui Intermediate Court sentenced Moy, who is chairman of the United Asia (Group) Corporation, to 20 years, and Lee, the firm's finance manager, to 14 years jail.
In addition, Zhao Jinrong, former director of the bank branch, and Xu Zhiguo, the deputy director, were sentenced to 11 and 19 years respectively ''for dereliction of duty and providing state secrets to people from outside the Chinese mainland'', said Xinhua (the New China News Agency).
''The court held that the swindling case caused severe social damage, infringed upon the rights and interests of the Agricultural Bank of China, and seriously hampered China's financial and social order,'' Xinhua said.
The two bank officials were said to have fallen ''for the lies of the swindlers'', and to have exceeded their power by issuing huge amounts worth of standby letters of credit.