(Yicai Global) Jan. 8 -- China's main securities regulator has handed the actual controller and two senior executives of warehousing firm Mingli Innovation Industrial fines totaling CNY1.8 billion (USD259.2 million) due to stock price manipulation. 

The three culprits used 32 trading accounts to inflate the company's stock price while earning CNY293 million (USD42.2 million), the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement yesterday. The actual controller has now been banned from trading securities for five years, the CSRC added. 

Mingli's stock price [SHE: 831963] has fallen to hover around 8 Chinese mao (US 1 cent) since last September. This morning, it rose to 9 Chinese mao. 

Fangchenggang-based Mingli Innovation got listed in Shenzhen in January 2015. 

Editor: Emmi Laine