Aidong Zhang found guilty and given suspended sentence

Local businessman, Aidong Zhang who has been found guilty of money laundering and obtaining property by deception has been given a suspended sentence by High Court Judge Justice Salesi Temo.

He was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for each count which was to be served concurrently and it has been suspended for 18 months.

Zhang has been ordered to pay a fine of $100,000 and his lawyer Iqbal Khan has assured the court the fine will be paid today.

In his sentence, Justice Temo considered that Zhang has paid $1 million to the court as restitution saying this attitude ought to be encouraged as it promotes the interest of justice.

Zhang deceptively obtained property and engaged directly or indirectly in money laundering in the amount of FJD$1,240,740.74.

This happened between 1st June 2014 and 31st January 2016.

Zhang obtained the money by deception from the complainant who was his business partner on the pretext that property was being sold at $5.5 million instead of its actual price of $3.3 million.