Former Chinese GP official jailed

(GMM) The fired general manager of Shanghai's formula one circuit has been sentenced to four years jail for embezzlement, the local Caijing magazine said on Thursday.

Yu Zhifei, instrumental in bringing the sport to China and a key promoter until his removal, had in late 2006 been implicated in a major corruption scandal.

Among other abuses, he was accused of using public money to buy a house.

The Intermediate People's Court in Wuhu, west of Shanghai, also fined Zhifei $40,000; a light sentence because he admitted "his criminal facts", the business magazine added.