Posted on July 15, 2009 by F1Wolf

The jailbirds

There were 3 high ranking Chinese officials greeting the spectators from the 2005 Chinese GP official program (click on the above image). Two of them are now in jail for graft …

The case of Yu Zhifei, general manager of the Shanghai International Circuit Management and Development Co Ltd has been making headlines for a while. The investigation of the man credited with bringing the Formula One to China begun in 2007. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison for embezzlement of funds in the late 1990s when he was head of Shanghai Shenhua Football Club.

The future looks much more gloomy for Chen Tonghai, former president of Sinopec, China’s second-largest oil company and until this year also the main backer and title sponsor of the Chinese Formula One GP. He was convicted today of corruption and taking bribes and received a suspended death sentence. Chen Tonghai was convicted of illegally receiving 190 million yuan (US$27 million). His death sentence came with with a two-year reprieve. Such sentences in China usually are commuted to life in prison.

What a difference can few years make …