A former chief prosecutor in Tianjin Municipality was sentenced
to death with a two-year reprieve for embezzling money and
accepting bribes that totaled close to 20 million yuan (US$2.71
million), a Hebei Province court ruled.
Li Baojin, 65, former chief prosecutor of the People's
Procuratorate of Tianjin, was handed the sentence after he took
bribes of more than 5.62 million yuan (US$761,518) during his term
as deputy director of the Tianjin Public Security Bureau and the
chief prosecutor from 1996 to 2006, Legal Daily reported
today.
Eight Tianjin-based firms bribed Li, the Beijing-based newspaper
under the Ministry of Justice said.
The Shandong native was also convicted for embezzling 14 million
yuan of public funds from the Procuratorate on eight separate
occasions. The money was funneled to Tianjin Dexiang Group between
March 2003 and November 2004, the Intermediate People's Court of
Cangzhou, Hebei, ruled yesterday.
The Cangzhou court was designated by China's Supreme Court to
hear the case, the report said.
The money Li embezzled was returned before he was caught, the
report said.
Li's personal property will also be seized, the report added,
citing the court.
Li was expelled from the Communist Party in November 2006 after
the Central Committee of the Party discovered his abuse of power
and severe violation of financial discipline.
(Shanghai Daily December 20, 2007)