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SHANGHAI, June 17 (Reuters) - A British corporate sleuth andhis American wife and business partner, both linked to a briberyscandal in China involving drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC, were deported on Wednesday after their jail terms werereduced this month.
Peter Humphrey and Yu Yingzeng left China at around midday(0400 GMT) on a Virgin Atlantic flight bound for London, thecouple's son, Harvey Humphrey, said in a message to Reuters sentvia a family friend.
Peter Humphrey and Yu were sentenced in August last year forillegally obtaining private records of Chinese citizens andselling the information to clients including GSK, Britain'slargest pharmaceutical firm.
"I am extremely glad that this ordeal will be over by thisafternoon," the son said.
The elder Humphrey and Yu's sentences were both reduced this month. Humphrey was seven months away from completing a 21/2-year sentence, while Yu was originally set to be freed inJuly.
"A British national detained in China has been deported,"said a British consulate spokesman who declined to identify theperson.
"We are aware of the case and are providing consularassistance," he said.
According to Virgin Atlantic's website, flight VS251 fromShanghai will arrive at London's Heathrow Airport at 5 p.m. onWednesday.
Humphrey and Yu's case unfolded alongside a Chineseinvestigation of GSK, which rocked the country's pharmaceuticalmarket and led to a $489 million fine against the firm last yearfor paying bribes to doctors to use its drugs.
Humphrey and Yu, who ran risk consultancy ChinaWhys, hadbeen asked by GSK to compile a report into the origins of a sexvideo involving the drug company's former China head, MarkReilly, which had been sent to senior executives at GSK alongwith anonymous emails alleging corruption.
At the time, a GSK spokesman in London confirmed the videoexisted but did not comment on how it related to the allegedbribery scandal. He also said GSK had hired ChinaWhys toinvestigate the video. (Reporting by John Ruwitch; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing byRobert Birsel)
Glaxosmithkline (GSK)