GSK-linked investigator to be freed early from China prison - source

By John Ruwitch

SHANGHAI, June 9 (Reuters) - A British corporate investigator linked to a bribery scandal involving drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC (Other OTC: GLAXF - news) has been told he will be released early from a 2-1/2 year prison sentence in China, a person close to his family said on Tuesday.

Peter Humphrey and his American wife, Yu Yingzeng, were sentenced in August last year for illegally obtaining private records of Chinese citizens and selling the information on to clients including GSK.

The person, who declined to be identified, said Humphrey was informed on Tuesday by a Shanghai court that his sentence would be reduced by seven months. He had originally been expected to be released in January next year.

Humphrey is in a Shanghai hospital undergoing tests related to a health condition and the British consulate is processing an emergency passport for him, so he can be deported once he is released from hospital, the person said.

It was not clear when Humphrey would officially be released.

A spokesman for the British consulate in Shanghai declined to make any immediate comment on the matter.

Yu, who was sentenced to two years in jail, will be released in coming weeks.

Two lawyers who had acted for Humphrey and Yu last year said they were not aware of the decision.

Humphrey and Yu, who ran risk consultancy ChinaWhys, were detained in 2013 following work they did for Britain's GSK, which was fined $489 million in China last year for paying bribes to doctors to use its drugs.

President Xi Jinping will travel to Britain for a state visit in October, 10 years after the last such visit by a Chinese president. (Additional reporting by Brenda Goh; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Robert Birsel)