Former Shanghai police chief receives life sentence for bribery

SHIJIAZHUANG -- Gong Dao'an, former deputy mayor and police chief of East China's Shanghai municipality, was sentenced to life in prison for taking bribes, the Intermediate People's Court of Tangshan in Hebei province announced Wednesday.

Gong was deprived of his political rights for life, all of his personal property was confiscated, and his illegal gains from bribery, as well as the interest it generated, were recovered and turned over to the state treasury.

The court found that Gong had taken advantage of the multiple positions he formerly held in Hubei province and Shanghai municipality to assist others in matters including business operation, construction project contracting, case handling and job promotion, among others.

In return, Gong received money and valuables worth about 73.43 million yuan ($10.56 million).

The court statement said the sum of bribes Gong had taken was especially huge and the circumstances of his crimes were especially heinous, inflicting huge losses on the state and the people.

Given that Gong had faithfully confessed to his crimes during the investigation, showed repentance and had been cooperative in returning all his illegal gains, a lenient sentence was granted, according to the statement.