A man in east China's Zhejiang Province was sentenced to 9 years in jail for the crime of illegal gold futures operation invloving more than 58 billion yuan (8.49 billion U.S. dollars), a local court ruling said Thursday.

It was believed to be the biggest ever case of illegal gold futures dealing.

Zhang Yong, legal representative of the Zhejiang Century Gold Product Company, was accused of illegal operation and flight of capital contribution and was fined 1.2 million yuan, a Shangcheng District People's Court ruling said.

Wang Jianping, a staff of the company, was sentenced to three years in jail with a four-year reprieve for the crime of illegal operation and was fined 100,000 yuan.

The company was also accused of illegal operation and was fined 71 million yuan, it said.

Zhang began to advertise on the Internet and in the media to attract clients since July 2005. The company developed an online trading platform and the registered clients reached 1,217 as of June 2008.

The gold dealing of the company was not connected with the international market. Its dealing referred to the international real time gold price. The company acted as both the buyer and seller and charged a fee from each deal.

The down payment collected from the clients was about 275 million yuan. The illegal earning from the gold futures dealing was at least 110 million yuan, according to the court.

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