admin
A Chinese court has sentenced Yang Youlin, a former city official, to death after convicting him for taking more than 2.2 billion yuan ($325 million; £243 million) in bribes over three decades.
Yang served in various positions in Nanjing city from 1993 to 2023, including executive deputy director of the Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone, director of the Jiangning District Construction Bureau, and general manager of the Jiangning Economic and Technological Development Group.
In a verdict delivered on Monday, Yang was also convicted of embezzlement, misappropriating public funds, abuse of power, and money laundering.
The court found that he manipulated engineering contracts, business operations, land transfers and financial transactions in exchange for property and funds worth more than 2.214 billion yuan, making it one of the biggest bribery cases in China.
The court also found that between 2014 and 2016, Yang colluded with co-conspirators to embezzle 12 million yuan in government funds.
He also paid more than 25 million yuan in bribes to other state officials to secure unlawful benefits, misappropriated 15 million yuan of public funds for private business operations, and caused 23 million yuan in direct economic losses to the state through unauthorised property demolitions and illegal land fee refunds.
In 2023, he tried to launder one million yuan in criminal proceeds through a company he controlled.
Judges acknowledged that Yang had provided information leading to the exposure of other crimes, which would ordinarily qualify as a “meritorious service” and could lead to a lighter sentence.
However, the court ruled that the “extremely huge bribe amounts, particularly serious criminal circumstances, extremely vile social impact and especially heavy losses to the state and the people” ruled out the possibilities of leniency.
Yang pleaded guilty and expressed remorse during his public trials in March and April.
The court imposed a consolidated death sentence, stripping Yang of his political rights for life, and ordering the confiscation of all personal assets.
