Beijing, December 25, AZERTAC
Shen Hao, former president of the 21st Century Media Co. Ltd., was sentenced to four years in prison on Thursday for blackmailing companies by threatening negative coverage, according to Xinhua net.
Shen was convicted of extortion and forced transactions, among other crimes, the People's Court of Shanghai's Pudong New District said in a statement.
According to the verdict, Shen was fined 60,000 yuan (9,266 U.S. dollars) and all his illegal gains will be confiscated. The media group was fined 9.485 million yuan.
Shen said he would not appeal.
From Oct. 13 to Nov. 30, 30 people with 15 organizations including Shen, were tried in public in separate cases by the People's Court of Shanghai's Pudong New District.
Other media executives including Liu Dong, former president of 21cbh.com; Liu Hui, former editor-in-chief of 21st Century Business Herald; and Xia Ri, former publisher of Money Week, were sentenced up to nearly 11 years in prison, said the court.
