Suspended death term for Beijing official
Capital's former roads chief had 10m yuan in 'tea money' stashed in his home
A former vice-director of Beijing's Communications Bureau was sentenced to death yesterday, suspended for two years, for bribery and embezzlement.
Bi Yuxi, also the former head of Capital Road Development Corp, was convicted of taking bribes worth 10.04 million yuan from 1993 to 2004, and embezzling 3 million yuan of public funds, Xinhua reported.
Bi, 62, was sentenced after a three-day trial at the Beijing No1 Intermediate People's Court. He was also stripped of his assets and political rights.
Responsible for the capital's road construction since 1994, Bi was convicted of using his power to interfere in the tendering of road projects, promoting others in return for bribes, and offering and taking bribes, according to Xinhua.
Other charges included the embezzlement of 3 million yuan from a public pension fund for 15 employees in 2001.
Bi was arrested in August and expelled from the Communist Party after he was found to have 'seriously violated party discipline', according to earlier state media reports.
The Capital Road Development Corp was responsible for the building of Beijing's ring roads, the circular highways which form the capital's road networks.
During the investigation, inspectors discovered 10 million yuan in cash at Bi's home, which he described as 'tea money' - small bribes.
The Bi investigation was the first large-scale corruption case involving a Beijing official under President Hu Jintao's leadership.
It was also the first such case involving a senior official in the capital since Chen Xitong , Beijing's former mayor and party secretary, was given a 16-year jail term on corruption charges in 1998.
Also announced yesterday was the expulsion of two former senior officials in Heilongjiang province from the party, a move likely to clear the way for trials in connection with their alleged links to a corruption scandal that has rocked the northeast province. The amount of money involved has not been revealed.
Xinhua reported that Xu Fa , Heilongjiang's former chief prosecutor, and Xu Yandong , former president of Heilongjiang Higher People's Court, were expelled for 'serious violations of party discipline'.
Others to have been sacked in connection with the scandal include former vice-governor Fu Xiaoguang and the former chairwoman of the Heilongjiang committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Han Guizhi .
Meanwhile, in Chengdu , a former deputy party secretary from Sichuan's Liangshan prefecture went on trial on Tuesday charged with taking bribes totalling 2 million yuan from 42 individuals.
Cao Yongbao was also charged with abuse of power and possession of assets worth more than 1.2 million yuan - far more than his legitimate income.
