Hefei official's son on trial for 142m yuan insurance scam

The son of a former finance official in East China has gone on trial for making 142 million yuan ($22.8 million) from an insurance scam.

Guo Qiang, 31, stands accused of swindling 27 people out of sums between 600,000 and 33 million yuan since 2009.

He appeared at Hefei intermediate people's court, in the capital of Anhui province, and prosecutors say he has confessed to his crime, Xin'an Evening News reported Thursday.

Guo's father used to be a high-level financial official for a district in Hefei.

One of the victims said in court that he agreed to do business with Guo because of his good family background, and the fact he promised to pay huge returns, the paper reported.

The defendant's father testified he had no knowledge of what his son was doing after the young man left his previous workplace. His wife also reported she had no idea of her husband's work but added he always spent lots of money in daily life.

After his confession, Guo's attorney suggested his client should be given a jail sentence of less than 15 years, the report added.

A verdict is pending.