China’s top court on Friday overturned a death sentence for a self-made Chinese businesswoman convicted in a multi-million dollar scheme to bilk investors, in a contentious fraud case that sparked sympathy for the self-made daughter of a peasant.

Wu Ying, 31, was convicted by a lower court in 2009 for cheating investors out of 380 million yuan ($60.3 million) by offering annualised returns as high as 180 percent, having spent the money on clothing and lavish dinners as well as buying four BMW cars and a Ferrari with a price tag of 3.75 million yuan.

But China’s Supreme Court overturned the death sentence, which the country uses for a variety of serious economic crimes in addition to capital murder cases. A sentence of jail time and death in China usually means the punishment will be reduced to life in prison.

Wu became something of a folk hero in China and…