[DAWN] Two senior executives of a collapsed peer-to-peer lender were sentenced to life in prison and 24 others punished over what has been called China's biggest-ever Ponzi scheme, state media reported on Tuesday.A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent operation where investors are promised quick returns on their investments but are actually paid from the investments of new investors instead of legitimate business activities.
The company, Ezubao, swindled more than 900,000 investors out of $7.6 billion, mainly between 2014 and 2015.
The brazenly luxurious lifestyles of top Ezubao bosses drew wide attention to the long-running case, one of the several recent high-profile trials to shine a light on pervasive fraud and corrupt practices in the Chinese financial industry.
The company was alleged to have fabricated most of the projects on its website and paid old debts with money from new investors.
Ding Ning, head of Ezubao's parent company Yucheng Holdings, was sentenced by a Beijing court to life in prison for charges ranging from fraudulent fundraising to illegal possession of a gun, the People's Daily reported.