A court in China has sentenced the former Communist Party boss pf the southern city of Guangzhou, Wan Qingliang to a life imprisonment on Friday, September 30, 2016 after having found him guilty of corruption.
Wan is the latest official to fall in President Xi Jinping’s sweeping war on graft after he had been put under party investigation in 2014, before being handed over to legal authorities for prosecution.
The Chinese court sitting in Nanning city stated on its official microblog, that Wan had collected over 100 million yuan ($15 million) in bribes, gifts and from extortion in exchange for help with promotions and project approvals.
Also, on admitting that he was guilty and handed over evidence not previously discovered in the investigation, which resulted in a less severe sentence, the court ordered the seizure of all Wan’s assets.
He could have received the death penalty for such heinous crimes.
Chinese courts are controlled by the ruling party and do not challenge party allegations, especially when it has to do with corruption cases, meaning there had never been any doubt that he would be found guilty.
China is in the midst of a sweeping campaign against deep rooted corruption launched by Xi after he assumed power almost four years ago.
