China jails 'disappeared' tycoon for 13 years

Xiao Jianhua, seen in an undated photo on a park bench in Beijing, has not been heard from since he was taken out of Hong Kong under mysterious circumstances in January 2017. (Photo: The New York Times)

Xiao Jianhua, a Chinese Canadian billionaire and onetime trusted financier to China’s ruling elite, was sentenced to 13 years in prison on Friday, and his company fined $8 billion, after he pleaded guilty to bribery and other crimes that authorities said had “seriously jeopardised” the country’s financial security.

Xiao, whose Tomorrow Group umbrella of companies was once worth hundreds of billions of dollars, was also fined the equivalent of $1 million, a Shanghai court said on Friday.