Graft gets ex-official in Beijing 13 years

A former senior official in Beijing was sentenced to 13 years in prison for taking bribes of more than 18 million yuan ($2.62 million), a local court in Northeast China ruled on Monday.

Lyu Xiwen, former deputy Party chief of Beijing, had been the capital's third-highest ranking official before she was brought down on corruption charges.

Lyu, 61, was found to have taken advantage of various official posts from 2001 to 2015 to seek benefits for others. She took bribes worth 18.79 million yuan, according to the verdict of the Jilin Intermediate People's Court.

She also was fined 2 million yuan and her illegal gains were to be recovered and turned over to the State treasury, the verdict said.

The court said in a statement that it showed leniency to Lyu because she confessed to her crimes, expressed remorse and voluntarily agreed to return illegal gains. She also offered information that had been unknown to judicial authorities.

Lyu said in court that she would not appeal, according to the court statement.

In October, a documentary on fighting corruption that was aired by China Central Television called Always on the Road revealed some details of Lyu's case.

"She bought five apartments in downtown Beijing at a preferential price, three of which were under her name and the names of her family members. The price she paid was about 20 million yuan less than the market price," Gu Hui, a staff member with the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the top graft buster, said in the documentary.

Gu said the apartments, developed by a State-run company in Beijing, are located in high-end residential areas, and Lyu provided assistance to the company when she held senior official positions. The company sold the apartments to her at a preferential price as a reward for her support.

In Lyu's case, the corruption started with accepting gifts such as clothes and purses, and it gradually developed into huge bribes in exchange for business favors, Gu said.