[johnuioyer]

Jul 23, 2010
Official jailed for taking bribes

BEIJING - A FORMER top Chinese police official has received a 12-year jail term for graft including taking a million yuan (S$202,481) in bribes from a jailed electronics magnate, an official website said on Friday. A Beijing court convicted Xiang Huaizhu of accepting a total of more than two million yuan in cash and luxury cars while serving as the deputy head of the public security ministry's economic crimes department.

The bribes included more than one million yuan from Huang Guangyu, the jailed founder of the GOME electronics chain, who was once China's richest man, according to the news website of the state prosecutor's office. Huang gave the bribes in exchange for Xiang's 'assistance' in the course of investigations into GOME and a real estate company owned by the magnate between 2006 and 2008.

It did not give further details of Xiang's role in the GOME case. Xiang's wife, Li Shanjuan, who worked in the ministry's auditing department, was also sentenced to 19 months in jail. -- AFP