A group of gangsters, who were convicted of killing a millionaire in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province in 2010, interrupted their trial on new charges Tuesday saying they did not commit the organized crimes that prosecutors say involved brutal beatings and millions of yuan.

The members of the Shenzhen chapter of the Hong Kong-based gang, Xinyi'an, are now facing charges of intentional injury, blackmail and theft. The new charges were laid after complaints were raised by the murder victim's family, who complained the men got off too easy after being convicted earlier of murder.

A local court in 2010 sentenced the men to between 11 months and five years in prison.

On Tuesday the 12 men shouted and interrupted their trail at the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, saying they were tortured into confessing and that prosecutors had fabricated the new charges.

The prosecutors also filed an appeal of the 2010 sentence, saying that they found evidence to show that Jiang Qingru and Wang Yasheng, two leading gang members were linked to the businessman's murder, and also involved in other crimes.

Zhao Jiangnan, a millionaire who ran a coal gas business in the Shajing area in the city's Bao'an district, was shot to death on the street in 2009. The case triggered a citywide uproar.

During their trial Tuesday, Jiang and Wang recanted their previous confession and claimed prosecutors simply made up new charges against them.

Prosecutors said there was no evidence showing that the men had been tortured during their interrogation.

The chapter of the Hong Kong-based gang is considered the biggest group of criminals from outside the Chinese mainland ever to be busted by the Shenzhen police.

The police said the organization had been largely dismantled in March, after 80 key members were arrested and 22 were put in detention.

The gang had been implicated in as many as 100 criminal cases, involving some hundreds of millions of yuan and seriously affected the social order in Shenzhen.

One of the cases involving the Xinyi'an gang was a fight in May 2008 at a nightclub, when the gangsters beat more than 20 people, leading to one death.

Three police officers are under investigation after they were found to have been offering protection and covering up crimes for Xinyi'an, said the local police in October.

The city's police and prosecutor's office did not respond to inquiries from the Global Times Wednesday.

Global Times