Antiques fraud fuels anger over 'farcical' appraisal

BEIJING - Questions over the appraisal of antiques in China are again being asked, as details begin to surface about how a crooked businessman swindled 1 billion yuan ($156 million) from a bank using forged artifacts.

One of Xie Genrong's fakes was even valued by a team of leading experts as being worth billions.

The 51-year-old was convicted in 2009, yet the facts of his crimes are only now coming to light as he appeals to reduce his life sentence at the Higher People's Court in Beijing.