Chinese Court throws out corruption appeal by three Rio Tinto executives
A SHANGHAI court has rejected the appeals of three former Rio Tinto employees, convicted in March for corruption.
The Higher People’s Court of Shanghai threw out the appeals by Wang Yong, Ge Minqiang and Liu Caikui.
They had admitted receiving kickbacks from steel mills desperate to buy iron ore from Rio Tinto at relatively low prices, but contested the amounts charged by prosecutors.
Two of the three had appealed against the espionage convictions, which were handed down in a closed trial. Australian citizen Stern Hu, who was tried along with his colleagues, did not appeal.
China has not yet announced the verdict for two Chinese steel executives, Tan Yixin and Wang Hongjiu, who were tried behind closed doors for having leaked information regarding the China Iron and Steel Association’s negotiating position during term price talks last year. They were also sentenced on 29 March.
A spokeswoman for the Shanghai Intermediate People’s Court refused to reveal those verdicts yesterday.