Olympic ticket scam artist appeals

A man sentenced to 15 years in jail for swindling 1.6 million yuan in Olympic ticket sales will appeal to a higher court for a lesser sentence, the Haidian district court said yesterday.

Chen Weitun, 42, was convicted of fraud and given a jail sentence and a fine of 20,000 yuan on Nov 18, the Haidian district court report said.

The report said that from July 2007 to June 2008, Chen swindled the money from the owner of a tour agency surnamed Du by claiming he could get hold of Beijing Olympic Game's tickets.