Shi Xue, who headed the Hainan Huayin International Trust and Investment Company, was sentenced in January, and his appeal was turned down by the high court in Hainan, southern China, in "recent days," Xinhua news agency said.

Shi, who also headed the now defunct Dalian Securities Company Ltd in the northeast of China, was found guilty of illegally amassing 2.4 billion yuan (350 million dollars) in deposits from clients and embezzling 260 million yuan, the report said.

The case was part of a crackdown at up to 10 investment banks that came to light in March 2002 and involved up to 26.4 billion yuan, one of China's biggest-ever investment fraud cases, the report said.

Shi was arrested in September 2002 and charged with corruption, embezzlement, financial certificate fraud, stealing state funds and illegally raising money through fake contracts, it said.

His two-year reprieve means that the death sentence will likely be commuted to life in prison.

In the same case, Shi's accomplice Liang Yong, the director of the Beijing Liyang Real Estate Development Co Ltd was given a life sentence for stealing and embezzling with Shi more than 27 million yuan from Dalian Securities.

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