From death sentences to the demise of their careers, rogue mainland officials have been feeling the full force of the law as the central government ratchets up its campaign against corruption.
The former vice-chairman of the Fangshan district Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, Xu Zhiyuan , was sentenced to death yesterday at Beijing No1 Intermediate People's Court for corruption and ordering the murder of his mistress.
The Beijing News reported that Xu, 55, started an illicit affair with a female colleague surnamed Chen in 1999 before colluding with his former driver Liu Xiaoming to kill the disgruntled woman.
The affair began to come to the surface when Chen's husband found a diary at her office after she went missing for several days after the Lunar New Year in 2006.
The diary revealed the extent of her tortuous relations with her boss and her growing resentment against him for failing to get her promoted.
Fed up with the woman's threats and harassment against him and his family, Xu paid Liu 100,000 yuan to get rid of her.
Liu strangled Chen and burned her body inside the workshop of his paint factory.
