GOME founder completes illegal trading sentence

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  • 2021-02-17 HKT 10:13″ title=”Mainland business mogul Wong Kwong-yu spent 10 years behind bars before his release. File photo: AFP”>


    Mainland business mogul Wong Kwong-yu spent 10 years behind bars before his release. File photo: AFP
    Mainland business mogul Wong Kwong-yu spent 10 years behind bars before his release. File photo: AFP

The founder of mainland electrical appliances retailer GOME, Wong Kwong-yu, has been released from jail after completing his sentence for illegal business dealings, insider trading and corporate bribery.

GOME Retail Holdings said in an exchange filing on Wednesday that the disgraced businessman finished his parole probation period on February 16 and has been freed.

During his glorious days, Wong had built GOME into the country’s biggest electrical appliance retail chain and was once ranked the richest man in China.

The billionaire was arrested in 2008 and later jailed for 14 years by a Chinese court.

He was released on parole last June and had his sentence shortened after spending a decade behind bars.

Shares of GOME in Hong Kong fell more than eight percent despite the announcement.