Graft leads to 16-year prison sentence, fine

Former vice-chairman of Inner Mongolia punished for corruption

Bai Xiangqun, former vice-chairman of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for bribery, corruption, insider trading and leaking insider information by a court in Liaoning province on Thursday.

The Dalian Intermediate People's Court in Liaoning also ordered Bai to pay a fine of 62.5 million yuan ($8.8 million).

Bai's illicit gains obtained by insider trading and leaking insider information were ordered to be turned over to the State treasury, while properties he received through corruption must be returned.

Bai said he would not appeal the ruling.

From 1999 to 2018, Bai took advantage of his various positions in the region to help departments and individuals in coal resource allocation, real estate projects, construction contracting and personnel promotions, according to the ruling.

In return, Bai solicited and accepted money and properties worth more than 85.2 million yuan, it said.

Between 2008 and 2012, Bai used his position as Party chief of Wuhai city and Xilin Gol League to illegally transfer public properties valued at more than 7.1 million yuan to himself on five occasions, it said.

In October 2010, August 2011 and February 2012, he also illegally obtained insider information about some stocks and instructed others to buy them, earning about 17.2 million yuan, it said.

The disclosure of the information led others to buy the same stocks, from which those people made a profit of more than 40.5 million yuan, it added.

The court acknowledged that Bai's punishment is relatively lenient.

It said that he deserved harsh punishment "because he asked for bribes multiple times, and the amount was huge, and he also illegally aided others in job transfers and promotions many times.

"But given that he pleaded guilty, admitted to some bribes we hadn't known about, reported major crimes of others and turned over his illicit gains, we penalized him leniently," the court explained.

Born in 1962, Bai began his career in 1984 at the educational bureau in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. He then served as secretary of the Communist Youth League of the autonomous region, mayor and Party chief of Wuhai, and Party chief of Xilin Gol League. He took the role of vice-chairman of Inner Mongolia in May 2012.

He was investigated in April 2018 for serious violations of discipline and law.