Chongqing cadre Lei Zhengfu, taped having sex, is jailed 13 years for bribery
Lei Zhengfu also ordered by Chongqing court to pay 300,000 yuan; woman seen with him in tape given suspended jail term for extortion
A former Communist Party official from Chongqing embroiled in a sex-video scandal was sentenced to 13 years in prison for bribery yesterday, while the woman who appeared with him in the video received a suspended two-year sentence for extortion, Xinhua reported.
The case of Lei Zhengfu , a former Beibei district party chief who was purged from office after images from the video were posted online, led to the downfall of more than 20 government and state enterprise officials in the city.
Lei, 55, was also ordered by the Chongqing No1 Intermediate People's Court to surrender 300,000 yuan (HK$375,000) of personal assets, Xinhua reported. At his trial 10 days ago, he denied accusations that he had accepted 3.16 million yuan in bribes.
Lei's lawyer said his client had not decided whether to appeal against the verdict and declined to make further comment.
But if past cases are any guide, it is almost impossible for a disgraced party official to win an appeal.
The court accused Lei of "taking advantage of his position and providing help to local companies in exchange for bribes", but Lei argued that most of the money mentioned in the prosecutor's charges did not involve bribery.
"Although I'm quite lecherous, I'm not greedy for money," Lei told the court.