Son of former governor sentenced years in graft expose
( 2003-09-07 09:57) (AP)
The son of a disgraced former Chinese governor and five others have been
sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for corruption, in a major expose of graft
linking government officials, private businessmen and state corporations.
Li Bo, the son of former Yunnan province Governor Li Jiating, was given the
heaviest sentence by the Kunming Municipal Intermediate Court, newspapers
reported Sunday. Beginning in 1996, Li Bo allegedly collected more than 15
million yuan (US$1.8 million) in bribes and kickbacks involving contracts for
tobacco and gasoline, the Beijing Morning Post said.
Sentenced with him was the former governor's mistress, Xu Fuying, who was
given four years for orchestrating corrupt business deals and pocketing millions
of yuan (hundreds of thousands of dollars) from state banks, the newspapers
said. A former county chief was given the second-heaviest sentence _ 10 years _
for corruption and embezzlement.
Former Governor Li Jiating was among the highest officials to fall to a
crackdown aimed at reducing the government's corruption. Li was given a
suspended death sentence earlier this year for taking 18.1 million yuan (US$2.2
million) in bribes and kicked out of the Party. Sentenced with Li Bo was
the head of a state company who embezzled 30,000 yuan (US$3,600) in company
funds to pay a bribe to gain his son's entry into prestigious Tongji University
after the boy failed entrance exams, The Beijing Morning Post reported. The man
was convicted of several cases of corruption and given a seven-year sentence.
Also sentenced were a Hong Kong tobacco trader who received four years and
the former head of the provincial branch of the state-owned Industrial Bank of
China, who received a one-year suspended sentence for paying Li Jiating
gratuities in return for his appointment.
Yunnan, in China's southwest, is one of China's least-developed regions,
although its tobacco crop and tourist industry are major sources of government
revenue.
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