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A court in southern China has jailed 24 people for defrauding investors of nearly Rmb10bn ($1.5bn), the latest in a series of financial scams that have proliferated in the country’s unruly and largely unregulated shadow banking sector.
華南一家法庭以詐騙投資者近100億元人民幣（合15億美元）的罪名判24人入獄，這是中國不守法且基本不受監管的影子銀行業頻發的一連串金融欺詐案的最新一例。
The official Xinhua news agency said 230,000 investors, mainly senior citizens and many of whom invested their life savings, were affected by the scam in the decade to 2012, making it one of the largest to be made public.
官方的新華社報道，在截至2012年的十年里，23萬名投資者受到了這一詐騙案的影響，令該案成為曝光的最大詐騙案之一。這些投資者主要是老年人，許多人把畢生的儲蓄都投了進去。
The court found that Guangdong Bangjia Leasing Co set up four businesses in the southern province that borders Hong Kong, along with branches and subsidiaries across China, luring investors with promises of returns of up to 47 per cent a year.
法庭判決稱，廣東邦家租賃有限公司(Guangdong Bangjia Leasing Co)在毗鄰香港的廣東省設立了4家公司，還在全國各地設立了多家分公司及子公司，以高達一年47%的回報承諾引誘投資者投資。
The case highlights the financial risks of the loosely regulated wealth management products industry, which often targets retail investors who have little financial sophistication. Beijing is concerned that popular discontent at such frauds will spill over into social unrest.
該案凸顯出中國監管寬松的理財產品產業存在的金融風險，該產業往往瞄準那些缺乏金融常識的散戶投資者。中國政府擔心，公眾對這類欺詐案的不滿會演變為社會不安定。
In February, authorities arrested 21 officials of Ezubao, once China’s biggest peer-to-peer lending platform, which collected $7.6bn in less than two years from more than 900,000 investors. That scandal sparked a protest in Beijing last month but news of protests is promptly removed if it appears online.
今年2月，中國有關部門逮捕了E租寶(Ezubao)的21名高層人員。E租寶一度是中國最大的P2P借貸平臺，在不到兩年里從逾90萬投資者集資76億美元。這一丑聞曾在上個月在北京引發抗議活動，不過有關抗議活動的新聞在網上出現后很快就被撤下。
Beijing, already on the defensive over its management of the volatile stock market and the slowing economy, is worried that financial scandals could threaten banking sector stability.
已經因為其對股市動蕩及經濟放緩的處理而處于守勢的北京方面，擔心金融丑聞可能危及銀行業的穩定。
P2P lenders, which grew out of investor hunger for wealth management products, are supposed to invest the money they raise into financial products issued by third parties, such as property developers. According to industry estimates, as many as a third of China’s 3,800 registered P2P lenders have run into financial difficulties as economic growth slows.
中國投資者對理財產品的渴望催生了P2P貸款機構，它們理應把籌得的資金投入房地產開發商等第三方發行的金融產品。根據業內的估計，隨著經濟增長放緩，中國3800家注冊在案的P2P貸款機構中，多達三分之一已陷入財務困境。
The Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court on Monday sentenced the main suspect in the Guangdong fraud, Jiang Hongwei, to life in prison, while the others received terms ranging from three to 14 years, Xinhua said.
據新華社報道，廣州市中級人民法院周一判處廣東邦家案主犯蔣洪偉無期徒刑，其他人員則被判處3至14年的有期徒刑。
The court froze and seized assets including 127 vehicles and 43 villas, but prosecutors said few victims might get their money back, since Jiang had squandered millions on luxuries.
法院凍結和沒收的資產包括127輛車和43套別墅。不過檢方表示，由于蔣洪偉已將數百萬元揮霍在奢侈品上，幾乎沒有受害者能拿回自己的資金。
