Former SPC assistant judge gets 14 years for taking bribes, stealing state secrets

BEIJING -- Wang Linqing, a former assistant judge of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), was sentenced to 14 years in prison by a local court on Saturday for receiving bribes and illegally obtaining state secrets.

Wang was found to have taken bribes worth more than 21.9 million yuan (about $3.3 million) by taking advantage of his former position to benefit relevant units and individuals in case trials and other matters from 2008 to 2018, according to a statement by the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court.

The investigation found that from June to August 2018, Wang illegally obtained a large number of files on a case involving a mining company, and provided the file contents to Zhao Faqi, the legal representative of the company. Five of the files stolen by Wang were classified as state secrets.

From 2011 to 2018, Wang received money and gifts worth over 350,000 yuan from Zhao.

In addition to the jail term, Wang was fined 1 million yuan and his illegal gains will be turned over to the state treasury, according to the court statement.

The court granted Wang a lenient sentence according to the law as he had turned himself in, confessed to his crimes, and showed repentance, while all his illegal gains have been recovered, said the statement.

A group of people including Zhao have also been punished in accordance with the law for their law-breaking activities, the court said, without giving details of the punishment.