Corrupt Chinese ‘king’ who took US$10 million in bribes jailed for 12 years
- Former party boss of Gansu province Wang Sanyun was known by many nicknames
- Internet users dubbed him ‘Gold Watch Man’ after noticing his luxury timepieces
A former Chinese senior official who accepted more than 66 million yuan (US$9.8 million) in bribes has been sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined 4 million yuan.
Handing down its verdict on Thursday, the Zhengzhou Intermediate People’s Court said Wang Sanyun – ex-Communist Party chief of northwest China’s Gansu province – had taken advantage of his position to receive a “huge amount” of bribes.
Once dubbed the “King of Gansu”, Wang spent the last six years of a career spanning more than two decades as head of the province.
The court said in a statement that it had been lenient in its sentencing as Wang had “confessed to his crimes, provided clues to other major cases and returned all of his ill-gotten gains”.
It did not say if Wang would appeal, nor did it immediately respond to email and telephone inquiries on the issue.