THE man at the centre of the China Aviation Oil (CAO) scandal which rocked the corporate world back in 2004, Mr Chen Jiulin, returned to China yesterday after spending two years and 10 months in prison.

In late 2004, CAO, a jet fuel supplier, announced it was facing US$550 million of losses from derivatives trading. The company had bet that oil prices would fall, but they rose instead.

In March 2006, Mr Chen was sentenced to a jail term of four years and three months and fined $335,000 for his role in the scandal, including letting false and misleading financial statements be released to the market. His sentence was reduced for good behaviour.

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