By Bernama
Beijing : Former Shanghai mayor and communist chief Chen Liangyu, the highest-ranking official to be sacked in a decade, was sentenced to 18 years jail Friday for graft and abuse of power.
The Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court also seized 300,000 yuan (RM150,000) of his personal assets, Xinhua News Agency said.
The 62-year-old was a central political bureau member before his downfall in a 3.7 billion yuan (RM1.85 billion) Shanghai pension fund embezzlement scandal that was exposed in 2006.
Xinhua said the court ruled that between 1988 and 2006, Chen abused his government and party positions to benefit the Shanghai New Huangpu Group Company and the Shanghai Shenhua Football Club.
Chen had also extorted or accepted bribes of more than 2.39 million yuan (RM1.19 million) from individuals and organisations but asked his family to return the money after his case was known, Xinhua said.
Several high-profile individuals implicated in the case have also been punished.
State media reported that another key figure, Zhang Rongkun, was sentenced to 19 years jail, Yu Zhifei, the former head of China’s Formula One racing, was imprisoned to four years and fined 300,000 yuan (RM150,000) while Qin Yu, Chen’s long-term secretary, was sentenced to life imprisonment.