A former Chinese Communist Party official, accused of embezzling a record USD 421 million-the largest-ever corruption case in China's history, has been sentenced to death by a court in Inner Mongolia.
The Higher People's Court of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Tuesday rejected the appeal by Li Jianping, who was sentenced to death in September 2022 for corruption, bribery, embezzlement, and participation in organised crime.
He was convicted by an intermediate court of embezzling 3 billion yuan (USD 421 million) in illicit gains—the largest amount involved in a single corruption case in the history of China, Chinese news portal Caixin Global reported.
The ruling would be submitted for final examination and approval to the Supreme People's Court, it said.
The court judgment ruled he was guilty of a raft of crimes, citing "extreme malice, severe social impact and grave offense", state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Li, 64, once headed a special economic zone in Hohhot and the city's water management authority. He is the third official to be sentenced to death after being found guilty of graft since 2007, when China tightened the death penalty after Lai Xiaomin, former chairman of state-owned China Huarong Asset Management Co. Ltd., and Zhang Zhongsheng, a former vice mayor of Luliang in Shanxi province.
Li was a middle-ranking local official in China's bureaucratic system, and until the courts got hold of him, his corruption and persecution had gone largely unnoticed by the public.
His fall late in 2018 first attracted little attention, but as more details emerged, his case would send shockwaves around the nation due to the huge sums involved, the report said.
Li has been accused of abusing his posts as Communist Party chief and director of Hohhot Water Authority from 2001 and as secretary of the party working committee of the Hohhot Economic and Technological Development Zone a decade later by collecting 578 million yuan-about USD 83 million-in exchange for favours relating to construction projects and business contracts.
He also remained in close contact with the leading member of a criminal syndicate and joined in conniving at organization's illegal activities, according to a report from Xinhua.
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