12 March 2016 12:00 am
AFP - An Australian court jailed a former boss of scandal-hit Chinese mining firm Hanlong for eight years yesterday in a major insider trading prosecution.
Xiao Hui, also known as Steven Xiao, pleaded guilty last year after he was extradited from Hong Kong to Australia, from where he fled while on bail.
The three charges included one involving 102 illegal trades relating to planned investments in Australian-listed companies, Sundance Resources and Bannerman Resources, when Xiao was managing director of Hanlong. Xiao was sentenced to eight years and three months behind bars by the New South Wales Supreme Court. With time served and a non-parole period he will be eligible for release from July 11, 2019 at the earliest.
“This sentence demonstrates the seriousness of insider trading,” said Cathie Armour, the commissioner of financial regulator the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).
“Maintaining confidence in the integrity of our financial markets is vital for everyone.... my message to anyone considering insider trading is this: ‘ASIC will find you,’” she told reporters.
Armour said the overall value of the trades was approximately Aus$2.3 million (US$1.7 million), with a profit of Aus$1.7 million.
Armour said the overall value of the trades was approximately Aus$2.3 million (US$1.7 million), with a profit of Aus$1.7 million.
A former vice president of Hanlong, Zhu Bo Shi, also known as Calvin Zhu, was in 2013 sentenced to more than two years in prison as part of ASIC’s investigation into the insider-trading allegations.
Hanlong, based in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan, launched a takeover bid of Aus$1.3 billion for listed Australian iron ore firm Sundance in 2011. The deal collapsed in 2013 after the Chinese firm failed to follow through.
Hanlong’s chief, Liu Han, was executed in China last year for “organising and leading a mafia-style group”, murder and other crimes.
A former vice president of Hanlong, Zhu Bo Shi, also known as Calvin Zhu, was in 2013 sentenced to more than two years in prison as part of ASIC’s investigation into the insider-trading allegations.
Hanlong, based in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan, launched a takeover bid of Aus$1.3 billion for listed Australian iron ore firm Sundance in 2011. The deal collapsed in 2013 after the Chinese firm failed to follow through.
Hanlong’s chief, Liu Han, was executed in China last year for “organising and leading a mafia-style group”, murder and other crimes.