Former Alibaba executive Yan Limin sentenced to seven years for bribery

A Hangzhou court has sentenced former Alibaba Group general manager Yan Limin to seven years in prison for bribery after his arrest in July last year.

The court on Wednesday said Yan, who rose to become general manager of Alibaba’s group-buying site Juhuasuan, had accepted bribes worth more than 538,000 yuan (HK$682,087). Alibaba removed Yan from his position in March last year for gross misconduct.

Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce company, is expected to file for an initial public offering in the coming months that may value the company at more than US$100 billion.

The court also found several other former Juhuasuan and Taobao employees guilty of involvement and handed down sentences to them.

“As we have stated in the past, behaviour of this sort will not be tolerated and the court’s verdict speaks for itself,” said John Spelich, a spokesman for Alibaba.

Alibaba is unaware of any other investigations into its employees since Yan’s arrest in July last year, said Spelich.