Grave-raiders sentenced

    THE head of a tomb raiding gang was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, and other major gang members were given prison terms, a court in Northeast China’s Liaoning Province ruled Thursday.

    When the gang, led by Yao Yuzhong, was arrested last year it was one of the biggest busts of its kind supervised by the Ministry of Public Security since the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949.

    Official indicted

    A FORMER senior legislator in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has been indicted for accepting bribes.

    Prosecutors in Xining, capital of Qinghai Province, have informed Li Zhi, former deputy head of the standing committee of the regional People’s Congress, of his litigation rights and questioned him, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate said in a statement Thursday.

    Recruitment scam

    SHANGHAI police have busted a gang they accuse of having used fraudulent job ads for Shanghai Disneyland to con 3 million yuan (US$463,000) in broker’s fees from more than 200 applicants.

    Police announced the arrest of three suspected gang leaders Thursday, two months away from the opening of Disney’s first theme park on the Chinese mainland.

    Teahouse fined

    A TEAHOUSE in Shanghai has been fined 500,000 yuan (US$77,100) and its business license revoked after it was accused of ripping off its customers.

    The main shareholder and a “bait” responsible for luring consumers have also been taken into custody for disturbing public order.

    According to a Weibo post, two Japanese students were extorted in the Yuyuan Teahouse on April 6.

    They were lured into the teahouse by three “baits” for a dinner invitation and when their “teatime” ended, the total cost came to over 2,100 yuan.