Society

Hilton Hotel boss gets life in prison in SW China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-05 07:03

CHONGQING - The boss of a Hilton Hotel in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality was sentenced to life in prison by a local court on Wednesday for mafia-style crimes.

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Peng Zhimin ordered his men to force competitors out of business by violence and organized prostitution in his casino in the Chongqing Hilton Hotel, according to the verdict of the Chongqing No 1 Intermediate People's Court.

The verdict said Peng also bribed officials.

Lu Yonghe, head of the Farmland and Water Resource Bureau of Chongqing's Nan'an district, was sentenced to 14 years behind bars for accepting bribes from Peng. Lu's deputy He Defu got 14 years and a half. Another three government employees named Huang Hongwei, Chen Weidong and Xian Yi were also sentenced to jail terms from 3 to 11 years.

Twenty six members of Peng's ring were sentenced to jail terms of one and a half years to life, the verdict said.