BEIJING : A former economic development official in Nanjing has been sentenced to death for accepting bribes totaling $325 million (2 billion yuan) over a nearly 30-year period, a Chinese court ruled on Wednesday.
Yang Yulin, a former official with the Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone, was found guilty of leveraging his position to approve projects, facilitate business dealings, allocate land, and secure funding in exchange for massive cash payments and valuable assets between 1993 and 2023.
The court also convicted Yang on multiple additional charges, including embezzlement of public funds, offering bribes, misuse of public money, abuse of authority, and money laundering.
In its ruling, the court noted that Yang confessed to his crimes during his final statement and expressed remorse for his actions. The death sentence was handed down with a two-year reprieve, which is common in such cases and typically commutes to life imprisonment if the convict demonstrates good behavior.
Beyond the capital punishment, the court ordered the confiscation of all of Yang’s personal property and demanded the full recovery of the bribe money.
The case is one of the largest corruption penalties imposed in recent years, underscoring Beijing’s ongoing anti-graft campaign that has targeted thousands of officials since its launch over a decade ago.
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