No evidence money meant as bribe

A consultant surnamed Zhou was found not guilty of bribery after paying 500,000 yuan ($81,000) to Yao Jinsong, a low-level official in the Ministry of Finance at the time, for his "kind help", Beijing Times reported on Thursday. Zhou provided consulting services to two private companies and later sought inside information on their behalf from Yao and thanked Yao with money. Yao was sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking a bribe. Zhou was not convicted, the Xicheng district court said, because "there is no specific proof" that he received a benefit in violation of the law.