Jailed Bo Xilai ally was 'in excellent condition' before 'mysterious' heart attack
A former high-flying Dalian tycoon associated with disgraced princeling Bo Xilai was in “excellent health and mental condition” two months before his unexpected death in jail from what his family was told was a heart attack, mainland Chinese media reported on Wednesday.
Xu Ming, 44, rose to become one of the mainland’s youngest billionaires after he founded Dalian Shide – a conglomerate with interests ranging from construction materials to insurance, real estate and soccer – in 1992.
Twenty years later, he was jailed for four years for offering the disgraced former China Communist Party boss of Chongqing Bo Xilai and his family 20.6 million yuan (HK$24.9 million) in bribes, Prism, an investigative website run by Tencent said on Sunday.
Xu died of a heart attack in a Hubei prison on Friday, according to Prism. A friend of Xu’s said that during the Mid-Autumn Festival in late September, Xu had told family and friends his health and mental state were in “excellent condition”, and that he even worked out occasionally.
READ MORE: Jailed Chinese tycoon and ally of disgraced princeling Bo Xilai dies of heart attack
He also told friends he expected to be released next February as his sentence had been shortened by seven months.
He led an ostentatious life, had a mysterious trial and ended with a mysterious death
His friend said the Xu family was told he had had a heart attack when using the toilet early on Friday, but the family was not notified of his death until hours later. The delay was not explained.
