8/21/2014
Former Chinese Railway Official Gets Death Penalty for Corruption
BEIJING – A Beijing court on Wednesday handed the death penalty to Wen Qinliang, a former official of the railway department in Taiyuan, capital of north China’s Shanxi Province, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Beijing’s No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court found Wen guilty of accepting bribes worth more than 20 million yuan ($3.2 million) between 2005 and 2011 in exchange for favors to companies bidding for railway projects in the region.
The sentence has been suspended for two years, after which, according to Chinese law, it could be commuted to life imprisonment if the defendant exhibits good behavior.
The reprieve was granted because most of the illegal income had been returned, the sentence read.
Investigations against Wen began in 2011 when he was heading the rail bureau in the southwestern city of Kunming, capital of the Yunnan province.
The verdict comes as part of the anti-corruption campaign launched by the government two years ago at all administration levels, including the military.
The state-owned railway sector, which has one of the largest budgets in the country, has been one of the main targets of the campaign due to irregularities in the past five years coinciding with the development of the high-speed train network.
In 2013, former Chinese railway minister Liu Zhijun was also sentenced to death for corruption – again with a two-year reprieve – and the government closed down the ministry in an attempt to curb corruption.
source
Former Chinese Railway Official Gets Death Penalty for Corruption
BEIJING – A Beijing court on Wednesday handed the death penalty to Wen Qinliang, a former official of the railway department in Taiyuan, capital of north China’s Shanxi Province, state news agency Xinhua reported.Beijing’s No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court found Wen guilty of accepting bribes worth more than 20 million yuan ($3.2 million) between 2005 and 2011 in exchange for favors to companies bidding for railway projects in the region.
The sentence has been suspended for two years, after which, according to Chinese law, it could be commuted to life imprisonment if the defendant exhibits good behavior.
The reprieve was granted because most of the illegal income had been returned, the sentence read.
Investigations against Wen began in 2011 when he was heading the rail bureau in the southwestern city of Kunming, capital of the Yunnan province.
The verdict comes as part of the anti-corruption campaign launched by the government two years ago at all administration levels, including the military.
The state-owned railway sector, which has one of the largest budgets in the country, has been one of the main targets of the campaign due to irregularities in the past five years coinciding with the development of the high-speed train network.
In 2013, former Chinese railway minister Liu Zhijun was also sentenced to death for corruption – again with a two-year reprieve – and the government closed down the ministry in an attempt to curb corruption.
source
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