BEIJING (REUTERS) - A Chinese court handed down a death sentence on Friday to a former mining magnate with links to the eldest son of retired security tsar Zhou Yongkang over charges of leading a 36-member gang on a crime spree spanning two decades.

Liu Han, the former chairman of unlisted Hanlong Group and once ranked the 230th richest person in China, went on trial in central Hubei province in late March along with other members of what state media termed a "mafia-style" gang.

Liu's younger brother, Liu Wei, also known as Liu Yong, was also sentenced to death, according to the microblog account of state broadcaster China Central Television.