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Life in prison for former top official in corruption case

Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily | January 24, 2017, Tuesday | Print Edition

A CHINESE court yesterday sentenced a former top official to life in prison for corruption involving millions of dollars.

Su Rong, 66, was a vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the top parliamentary advisory body.

He was found guilty of bribery, abuse of power and possessing “huge amounts” of assets whose origins he could not explain, according to the verdict of Jinan Intermediate People’s Court in Jinan, capital city of the eastern province of Shandong.

Su was deprived of his political rights for life, and all his personal property was confiscated, the verdict said.

Su took advantage of various official positions to offer business favors and promotions, accepting bribes worth over 116 million yuan (US$17 million) either personally or through others from 2002 to 2014, the verdict said.

His abuses resulted in great losses of public property, and damaged the interests of the state and the people, the court said.

Su’s property and expenditure exceeded his legal income and he could not explain how he obtained assets worth more than 80 million yuan.

Su accepted the verdict and would not appeal, the court said.

Meanwhile, Chinese courts have jailed two former officials for corruption who had fled abroad.

Wang Guoqiang, former Party chief of Fengcheng City in northeastern China’s Liaoning Province, was sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption.

The sentence was handed down by the Shenyang Intermediate People’s Court in Liaoning.

The court also imposed a fine of 900,000 yuan on Wang and ordered that all his illicit gains be confiscated.

Wang, who fled to the United States in April 2012, subsequently returned to China and turned himself in to disciplinary authorities in December 2014.

According to the court, his confession, remorse and the fact that all his illegal gains had been recovered were taken into consideration when deciding on sentence.

Wang featured in a Chinese television program last year talking about how miserable his life on the run had been.

Also yesterday, Li Huabo, a former local finance official in Jiangxi Province, was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The sentence was handed down by the Intermediate People’s Court of Shangrao in the east China province.

Li will also have all his personal property confiscated and his remaining illicit gains will be recovered, according to the court.

Li, who fled the country in January 2011, remained in Singapore until he was repatriated in May 2015.

The court said that its verdict had taken into consideration his confession and expression of remorse.

China has vowed to pursue an overseas search dubbed Operation “Fox Hunt” for corrupt officials and business executives.

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