Former judicial worker gets 14 years for graft

Wang Linqing, subject of 2018 scandal, also illegally obtained state secrets

Wang Linqing, a former assistant judge of China's top court once at the center of a judicial scandal in late 2018, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for receiving bribes and illegally obtaining state secrets on Saturday in Beijing.

The Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court ruled that from 2008 to 2018, Wang took advantage of his position to assist two companies and 11 individuals in their trials and accepted bribes worth about 21.9 million yuan ($3.3 million). On top of the jail term, Wang was also given a fine of 1 million yuan, according to the court verdict.

One of the companies, an energy investment firm in Yulin, Shaanxi province, was involved in a coal-mining dispute over contracts with Shaanxi's geological and mineral exploration authorities. Zhao Faqi, the firm's owner, bribed Wang with $50,000 and shopping gift cards worth 50,000 yuan from 2011 to 2018, the verdict said.

Zhao sued the authorities over the ownership of a mine in Shaanxi in 2006 and ultimately won the case in the Supreme People's Court in 2017. But more than a year after the final ruling, the judgment had not been implemented. Unsatisfied, Zhao turned to Wang for help.

From June to August 2018, Wang stole and photographed a large number of case documents about the coal-mining dispute and sent them to Zhao via WeChat and email. Five of the documents were classified as state secrets by the National Administration of State Secrets Protection, according to the verdict.

The court said as a judicial employee, Wang accepted a "particularly large" amount of bribes, seriously undermining judicial credibility. Furthermore, his theft of state secrets, which were later shared by Zhao, had an adverse impact on society.

Wang surrendered to police, confessed and pleaded guilty to taking bribes, and returned all his ill-gotten gains. Because of his cooperation, the court ruled that his punishment could be mitigated.

Other people involved in the scandal, including Zhao, have also been punished, the court said without giving details.

Wang found himself in hot water in December 2018 when former news anchor Cui Yongyuan posted on his Sina Weibo that some key court documents had been "lost "from the top court's office building. Cui attached to his post some pictures and a video clip made by Wang in which he claimed he was "astonished" that the documents went missing from his office.

Cui's posts sparked a massive outcry over possible judicial corruption and dragged the top court into the spotlight. Multiple central anti-corruption and law enforcement watchdogs quickly formed a joint investigation team in January 2019 to conduct a thorough probe.

The following month, the team released an initial conclusion that Wang had fabricated the "mysteriously missing" story with Zhao due to his resentment of his work at the court. It also found the top court's verdict in the coal mine dispute was proper, and the internal instructions from senior court officials in the case were also in accordance with laws and regulations.

After the investigation, Cui apologized and said he had not verified the content. Wang also admitted publicly on China Central Television that he was responsible for the disappearance of the documents.