Court upholds life term for ex-boss of aerospace company

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-13 09:16

HANGZHOU -- A higher court in east China has upheld a life sentence for the former board chairman of an aerospace company, who was convicted of embezzlement and bribery, said a statement posted on the Zhejiang provincial procuratorate's website on Monday.

Chen Pengfei, 42, was board chairman of Aerospace Communications Holdings Co., Ltd. (ACHC), a listed company based in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province.

Chen was sentenced at the Intermediate People's Court of Ningbo City to life in prison in September 2008.

He had been convicted of embezzling almost 24.6 million yuan (US$3.6 million) and taking 150,000 yuan in bribes from 2002 to 2006.

The court also ordered the seizure of 1.02 million yuan of his personal assets.

Chen appealed the sentence, which was upheld by the Zhejiang Higher People's Court.

Chen was also a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature. The Standing Committee of NPC terminated his deputy qualification in April 2007 on charges of "severe discipline violation".