The Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court yesterday sentenced a farmer from Yunnan Province to 10 months in prison for extorting money from Chen Tianqiao, founder of China's biggest online game provider.

Chen, 32, set up Shanghai Shanda Network Development Co. Ltd in 1999 and it quickly grew to become the mainland agent for the Korean game Legend, as well as being listed on NASDAQ in 2003.

As chairman and CEO of Shanda, Chen profited handsomely, earning spots on published lists of the richest people on the mainland.

He Wen, 25, read a newspaper report about criminals who had successfully blackmailed several rich people by writing threatening letters to them.

After deciding he could earn money the same way, he began to search a rich list for potential targets.

He, who was working in Guangdong Province at the time, told the court he picked Chen because he felt "it might be safer to blackmail a person in a city far away."

He found Chen's address on the Internet in May and sent a letter to him that read: "I have some personal materials about you that may affect your future. I'm in need of money and hope you can help me. The amount can be decided, but you must pay before June 10. Three days after you pay, you will receive the relevant video tape, audio tape and other materials."

When Chen received the letter in early June, he said he was worried the writer had information that could harm the image of his company and affect its stock, so he asked one of his employees to deposit 10,000 yuan (US$1,238) into the bank account He had specified.

After several days, Chen reportedly became suspicious and decided to report the letter to the police.

They found that the bank account belonged to He's sister and managed to track He down, but he had already spent all of the money on gambling and in a karaoke bar.

Chen was estimated by Forbes Asia magazine earlier this month to be worth US$1 billion net.

(Shanghai Daily November 30, 2005)