Dispute keeps man in mortuary 2 years
Print Edition
Exactly two years after his death, the body of a businessman is still lying in a funeral home in Guiyang City over a family feud that remains unresolved.
In his will, Sheng En insisted he should not be buried until justice is delivered.
The 70-year-old Sheng died of cancer in November 2011. His wife Zhang Wen has since carried on the legal fight against her brother-in-law Sheng Zhusheng in Guizhou Province.
In 1998, the brothers were locked in a dispute over the rights to their jointly invested companies. Three years later, Sheng En dragged his younger brother to court.
Zhang said police in the provincial capital of Guiyang abused their power and conducted an illegal investigation against her husband. She claimed the judges threatened her to agree to a mediation, the Oriental Morning Post reported yesterday.
Sheng En used to run a business in Hong Kong.
In 1988, Sheng Zhusheng contracted an energy company called Anqian, which reportedly had links with the military.
In 1989, Sheng En and his brother jointly set up a hotel. Three years later, they opened a real estate company.
In mid-1998, China banned the army from engaging in any business activities. This hurt Sheng Zhusheng. Sheng En paid 2.3 million yuan (US$377,430) to buy the shares of Anqian and the two companies as well.
But Sheng Zhusheng claimed his brother violated laws to get the shares and refused to hand over the management of the companies to his brother.
Sheng Zhusheng went as far as printing leaflets, alleging his elder brother was siphoning off state-owned assets, Zhang told the newspaper.
But when Sheng Zhusheng tried to discredit his brother, he was caught up in a scandal of his own. Documents from Guizhou’s judicial department showed his lawyer had been criticized in public in 2000 for attempting to illegally change the hotel’s legal representative, Sheng En.
Sheng Zhusheng appeared in court in July 2001. Eleven months later, the Yunyan District People’s Court ordered him to stop infringing on Sheng En’s right.
The Guiyang Intermediate People’s Court upheld the ruling in late 2002 after Sheng Zhusheng appealed the verdict.
The two brothers reportedly made peace in 2005. Sheng En heard that Sheng Zhusheng had got cancer and gave up the battle over the hotel, Zhang said.
But Sheng Zhusheng gave another story to the paper. “He (Sheng En) was caught by police for illegal fundraising and he approached me to settle the matter,” he said, stressing that it was he who forgave his brother.
In August 2009, the matter was back in court and Sheng En won the case again. But the provincial higher court backed Sheng Zhusheng this time, asking the Guiyang intermediate court to review the case.
In December 2012, the intermediate court upheld its original decision. Sheng Zhusheng filed an appeal and the higher court is reviewing the case, the newspaper reported.
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