What’s new: A court in Inner Mongolia has upheld the death penalty for a former official convicted in the largest-ever corruption case in China.
The Higher People’s Court of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Tuesday turned down the appeal by Li Jianping, who was sentenced to death in September 2022 for corruption, bribery, embezzlement and engaging in organized crime.
The ruling will be submitted to the Supreme People's Court for final examination and approval, said the court.
Li, who once headed a special economic zone in Hohhot and the city’s water management authority, was found guilty by an intermediate court of pocketing a staggering 3 billion yuan ($421 million) in illegal gains — the largest sum involved in a single corruption case in China’s history.
Background: Li, 64, is the third official to be sentenced to death after being found guilty of graft since 2007, when China tightened the death penalty. Lai Xiaomin, former chairman of state-owned China Huarong Asset Management Co. Ltd., and Zhang Zhongsheng, a former vice mayor of Luliang in Shanxi province.
Li was a mid-level local official in China’s bureaucratic system, with his corrupt behavior and prosecution flying largely under the public’s radar. His downfall in late 2018 attracted little attention at first, but as more details emerged his case shocked the nation due to the huge amounts involved.
Li was accused of using his position as the Communist Party chief and director of Hohhot Water Authority from 2001, and as secretary of the party working committee of the Hohhot Economic and Technological Development Zone a decade later, to collect 578 million yuan in exchange for favors relating to construction projects and business contracts.
He was also convicted of illegally obtaining 1.44 billion yuan by falsifying property deals and embezzling 1.1 billion yuan in government funds.
The money was mostly spent on gambling, buying luxury items or was sent overseas, according to court documents.
Altogether, the 3 billion yuan amassed by Li was almost double the bribes taken by Huarong’s Lai.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)
