The former Communist Party secretary of a town in Shanghai's Putuo district was in court on Thursday, his first court appearance since being dumped from the city's people's congress in November 2007, Xinhua reported yesterday.
Wang Miaoxing , who was also the board chairman of Shanghai Xinchangzheng Group, which is owned by Changzheng town, has been charged with corruption, embezzlement and taking bribes.
If convicted on all charges, Wang could be given the death penalty.
Prosecutors told the Shanghai No2 Intermediate People's Court that Wang had embezzled 97 million yuan (HK$110 million) and taken 6 million yuan in bribes since the early 1990s.
Wang had been appointed head of the Shanghai Xinchangzheng group, which had interests in real estate, trade and construction.
Wang allegedly took 1 million yuan in bribes in 1998 in return for awarding a construction project to a Shanghai real estate developer.
