Female billionaire sentenced to 20 years' prison

Ding Yuxin, a Shanxi businesswoman convicted of colluding with former railways chief Liu Zhijun over projects worth billions, stands trial in a Beijing court in this Sept 24, 2014 file photo. Ding was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined 2.5 billion yuan ($404 million) and had personal property worth 20 million yuan confiscated. [Photo/Xinhua]

Ding Yuxin, a female billionaire who gave bribes to a former railways minister, has been sentenced to?20 years in prison, fined 2.5 billion yuan ($404 million) and had personal property worth 20 million yuan confiscated, a court in Beijing ruled on Tuesday.

The Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court said the evidence collected by prosecutors – that Ding offered bribes and conducted illegal operations – is sufficient for a verdict, which was issued on Tuesday morning and released on its official microblog on Sina Weibo.

Ding Yuxin, the defendant and former chairwoman of Boyou Investment Management Corp, confessed to offering Liu Zhijun, former railways minister, 49 million yuan from 2008 to 2010 in exchange for lucrative contracts and connections in the previous hearings of the court.

Prosecutors said in previous investigations that between 2007 and 2010, the defendant helped 23 companies win 57 railway projects, valued at a total of 185.8 billion yuan.

Ding, 59, also admitted to making 2 billion yuan in profits between 2004 and 2011.