Seven people convicted of illegally collecting, refining and distributing a huge amount of what is infamously known as gutter oil were given sentences including life imprisonment Tuesday.
In one of the biggest gutter oil cases, which implicated 58 companies, the principle suspect Liu Liguo, manager of Gelin Bio-Energy Co in Jinan, Shandong Province, was given a life sentence by a local court in Zhejiang Province.
Liu's brother and brothers-in-law were handed sentences ranging from 10 to 14 years, while two drivers were sentenced to seven years in prison, according to the court.
Experts said those convicted in the case were probably given the heaviest sentence ever in a case related to gutter oil.
Liu was charged with profiteering from the production and sale of waste cooking oil since 2007. Annual revenues topped more than 99 million yuan ($16 million).
Ningbo police in Zhejiang arrested 32 suspects in August 2011 after busting an underground network that produced "recycled" cooking oil that had been collected from sewers and then processed and sold to unsuspecting consumers.
The gutter oil network spanned 14 provinces.
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