Official uses Hep B to dodge jail time

GUANGZHOU: A former Guangdong official is on the run after dodging an eight-year jail term by falsely claiming that he had Hepatitis B.

Chen Jianming, former director of the Dianbai county education authority, was found guilty of involvement in one of the country's biggest fraud cases in 2000.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison in early 2002. But Chen used a loophole in Chinese law and claimed he suffered from Hepatitis B.