13 jailed for illegally fundraising billions

Thirteen people were jailed in Beijing on Wednesday for illegally collecting funds totaling 2.6 billion yuan (422 million U.S. dollars).

They received jail terms ranging from 2.5 to 10 years after the Beijing Municipal Second Intermediate People's Court found they had collected the money from more than 40,000 people.

They also received fines ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 yuan, the court said in a statement.

From December 2009 to May 2012, Zhu Zijun and 12 others cheated the public to buy "franchise qualification" in their dummy company, it said.

The collection of funds from the public by unqualified entities is explicitly prohibited by Chinese law.