SEATTLE — A federal judge has sentenced the CEO of a China-based energy company to five years in prison for securities fraud.
Dickson Lee, head of L&L Energy, which has headquarters in Seattle, was also fined $10,000. L&L Energy was involved in the coal business, including mining, washing and wholesale distribution of coal inside China.
Federal prosecutors say Lee was arrested last year and later pleaded guilty to charges that he reported false information to the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission. They say he lied when he said the company had a chief financial officer when it did not.
He also pleaded guilty to generating funds for the cash-strapped company by issuing hundreds of thousands of shares to people in China who then sold the shares on the market. Prosecutors say at the time, his company was under investigation, but he withheld that fact.
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