China frees wife of UK GSK investigator Peter Humphrey

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-33090372

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The wife and business partner of a British corporate investigator jailed in China for trafficking personal data has been freed early from prison, the BBC understands.

Yu Yingzeng, a Chinese-born US citizen, was jailed with her husband Peter Humphrey as part of the GlaxoSmithKline corruption scandal last August.

Mr Humphrey was released earlier this week.

They are expected to leave China in the coming days.

Yu Yingzeng was detained along with Mr Humphrey in 2013.

She was sentenced last year to two years in prison and had been due to be released on 11 July.

The couple were detained after helping GSK investigate a secretly filmed sex tape of its then top manager in China.

GSK was fined £300m ($465m) by the Chinese authorities for bribes to hospitals and officials in an attempt to boost sales.

The couple were found guilty of illegally obtaining Chinese citizens' data and selling it to firms including GSK China.

They both admitted buying background information, but said they did not realise this was illegal.

Mr Humphrey was released on health grounds and has been moved to a Shanghai hospital for tests relating to cancer.

He will be deported on release from hospital.

The couple's family has been told their departure from China could take several days.

Their son, Harvey, a university student in the UK, has not had access to them.

How the case unfolded: