Chinese retailer tycoon gets jail time commuted by 11 months

BEIJING - Chinese retailer tycoon Huang Guangyu, currently in jail, was granted an 11-month commutation by a court in Beijing on Tuesday.

Huang, born in 1969 at Shantou city in South China's Guangdong province and a permanent resident of Hong Kong, was once the richest man on the Chinese mainland and former chairman of Chinese retailer giant Gome.

The Beijing No 2 prison, where Huang is serving his time, suggested having his jail term commuted on the grounds of his good behaviors in prison. The procuratorate agreed to the proposed commutation.

Huang was sentenced in 2010 to 14 years in prison, a 600 million yuan ($91.2 million) fine and confiscation of personal assets worth 200 million yuan after a court in Beijing found him guilty of illegal business dealings, insider trading and bribery.

His sentence was shortened by ten months in 2012.

According to the court, Huang had turned in the 800 million yuan fines and personal assets and 23.66 million yuan of illegal gains as per his sentence.

After the commutation, Huang will finish serving his jail term on Feb 16, 2021.