Former tycoon receives state compensation after wrongful detention

Former Chinese tycoon Lan Shili has received more than 590,000 yuan ($80,628) of state compensation after he was wrongly detained 902 days for fraud, according to a statement he posted on social media Thursday.

Lan, founder of tourism company East Star Group, was acquitted of fraud charges in December 2021 after the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court found a lack of evidence. The Guangzhou people's procuratorate in Guangdong province provided the compensation, which included over 394,000 yuan for his wrongful detention and 197,000 yuan for his mental anguish.

The procuratorate also apologized to Lan for its mistake in the case handling and said it would work to restore his reputation.

Lan said in his statement that the acquittal, compensation, apology and recovery of reputation made him see the judicial progress.

Lan was detained in March 2016 after Li Yong, Li Meng and Li Gang, who are brothers and the controllers of a dairy processing company listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, reported him to the police over a contract dispute. The Li brothers had signed an agreement with Lan to cooperate in an acquisition of Orient Thai Airlines, but the two sides squabbled over contract terms on the acquisition payment and equity transfer.

In March 2016, Lan was detained for alleged contract fraud, and a month later he was placed under residential surveillance. In July that year, he was found to have escaped and fled the country.

He was caught in Singapore in November 2019 and returned to Guangzhou. On Dec 20, 2021, the intermediate court announced Lan not guilty, and released him the same day.