A court in China's Guangdong Province has sentenced 24 people to jail for duping investors of more than 9.9bn Yuan ($1.5bn), according to state news agency Xinhua.

The ringleader of the group Jiang Hongwei was sentenced to life imprisonment by court, while 23 others were sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment.

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Jiang reportedly spent millions of money on luxury items and goods.     

The scam involved raising money by selling membership cards to investors, who were promised with 47 percent returns. Lured by high returns, some 230,000 investors ended up putting their hard earned money into the fraudulent scam.

Some investors claim that they were attracted by company's "novel modes of financial services" and "fancy exhibitions" put by the company.

"Their grand exhibition occupied six halls. After attending it, I felt assured and decided to invest 700,000 Yuan", one investor told Xinhua.         

Many elderly investors, who put in all their savings into the scheme, reportedly burst into tears during the trial.

Most victims said that they are still unsure they will get their money back, despite the fact that a court has sent all the culprits behind bars.

In recent months Chinese authorities have been cracking down on financial scams across the country.

Last month, police in China arrested 21 employees of online financial company Ezubao for stealing more than $10 billion from millions of investors. Ding Ning, 34, the founder of Ezubao, was among 21 people arrested.

Last year, the Chinese economy reportedly lost a whopping $33 billion due to financial scams.           

TagsFinancial scam, china