China sentences former asset manager to death for ‘extremely large’ bribes

SHANGHAI: &nbsp, A Chinese court on Tuesday ( May 28 ) sentenced to death a former professional of one of the country’s largest express- managed property management companies for accepting “extremely big” money, state media reported.

Bai Tianhui, the former general manager of a company of Huarong Asset Management, was found guilty of using his management positions to provide favorable care in “matters including venture acquisition and corporate funding,” according to state broadcaster CCTV. He received the equivalent of more than 1.1 billion yuan ( US$ 151.9 million ) while using his management positions to provide favorable therapy in “matters including project acquisition and business financing.

Lai Xiaomin, Huarong’s former chairman, was executed in January 2021 for receiving bribes worth US$$ 260 million. This was a major target of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s years-long graft crackdown.

The anti-corruption campaign, according to supporters, promotes clean government, but critics claim it also gives Xi the authority to remove political rivals.

The court sentenced Bai to “death, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property”, CCTV said.

” The value of Bai Tianhui’s bribery crime was extremely large, the circumstances of the crime were extremely serious, the social impact was extremely bad, and it caused extremely heavy damage to the interests of the country and the people”, the court decided, according to the broadcaster.

At a Politburo meeting on Monday, China’s top leaders said that” those who fail their duties will be held accountable and be severely punished,” according to state news agency Xinhua.

Numerous figures from China’s financial and banking sectors have been targeted by anti-graft authorities in recent months.

In April, Liu Liange, chairman of the Bank of China from 2019 to 2023, admitted to “accepting bribes and illegally providing loans”.

Everbright Group Li Xiaopeng, the former head of Chinese state-owned banking, was the subject of a legal investigation that month for” severe violations” of the law.

Although Amnesty and other human rights organizations claim that thousands of people are executed in the country every year, China classifies death penalty statistics as a state secret.