Former Huarong chairman sentenced to death

Lai Xiaomin, former board chairman of China Huarong Asset Management Co, was sentenced to death on Tuesday for taking 1.79 billion yuan ($275 million) in bribes, the Second Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin said in a statement.

The 58-year-old was also sentenced to 11 years in prison for embezzlement and one year in prison for bigamy. The court decided to hand down the death penalty and confiscate all his personal assets, according to the statement.

Lai took advantage of positions he held from 2008 to 2018, including serving as director of the general office of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, Party secretary and chairman of Huarong Asset Management, and secretary of the Party committee of Huarong Xiangjiang Bank Co, to earn illegal profits for companies and individuals.

He was found to have accepted money and property worth 1.79 billion yuan, more than 104 million yuan of which Lai had not yet received, for helping others in obtaining financing, project contracting and job promotion, according to the verdict.

From the end of 2009 to January 2018, Lai and others illegally seized public funds totaling more than 25.13 million yuan.

The court said that the amount of the bribes Lai had taken were particularly substantial and had serious repercussions. He often even took the initiative to ask for bribes, which required a heavier punishment, it said.

Lai used his power as the head of a State-owned financial enterprise to decide major projects in violation of rules, intervene in specific projects beyond his level, and seek illegitimate interests for others, thus jeopardizing the country's financial security and stability and creating an extremely negative social influence, the court said.

Most of Lai's crimes were committed after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, when the country launched a sweeping anti-graft campaign. He caused great loss to the country leading to substantial social harm and should be severely punished according to law, the court said.

It is unclear if Lai will appeal or not.

Zhang Zhongsheng, the former vice-mayor of Lyuliang, Shanxi province, was sentenced to death in 2018, after being convicted of accepting 1.04 billion yuan in bribes. He was the first corrupt official to be given the death penalty since 2012.