HONG KONG -- Six companies linked to Chinese metals tycoon Liu Zhongtian have been fined $1.83 billion by a U.S. federal judge in Los Angeles in relation to a conspiracy to evade customs duties and inflate the revenues of Hong Kong-listed China Zhongwang Holdings.
A jury found the six California-based companies guilty last August after a nine-day trial of 17 counts of conspiracy and fraud, with two also convicted on seven counts of international money laundering.
