16 January 2009 :

a court in east China upheld the death penalty for the owner of a beauty parlour convicted of fraud and illegally raising more than 700 million yuan (US$102 million). Du Yimin, 44, was sentenced to death at the Intermediate People's Court of Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, in March 2008. She was charged with collecting the money illegally by promising high returns to creditors. Du appealed but the sentence has been upheld by the Higher People's Court of Zhejiang Province. The court said hundreds of investors had been attracted by promised returns of 1.8 to 10 percent a month. Du spent the money on apartments, cars and luxury items.