Former deputy head of National Tobacco Monopoly Administration sentenced to suspended death for accepting bribes-Xinhua

DALIAN, May 29 (Xinhua) — He Zehua, former deputy head of the National Tobacco Monopoly Administration of China, was sentenced to death, suspended for two years, for accepting huge bribes. wine.

The sentence was handed down Wednesday by the Intermediate People's Court in Dalian, Liaoning Province.

The court ruling said that after the two-year suspended period expires and the sentence is commuted to life imprisonment in accordance with the law, no further commutation or parole will be allowed.

He was also deprived of his political rights for life, all his personal property was confiscated and all his illegal earnings were recovered and returned to the public treasury.

The court found that between 1998 and 2023, he improperly took advantage of his various positions, including those of senior official of local tobacco monopoly agencies, as well as deputy head of the national tobacco monopoly administration, to help other people in commercial matters. operations, project procurement, promotion and recruitment of personnel, illegally accepting money and gifts worth more than 943 million yuan (about 132.6 million US dollars) in exchange.

He was also found to have abused his influence in the positions he previously held to gain unfair advantages for others between 2014 and 2016, accepting cash and gifts worth more than 1.47 million yuan.

The court ruling said that the amount of bribes involved in He's crimes was particularly huge, the circumstances were particularly serious, and the social impact was extremely serious, causing significant losses to the country's interests. and the population.

However, part of the bribes had not actually been obtained by He, and he had cooperated in the investigation and return of the illegal gains, which were fully recovered. These facts were taken into consideration when passing the sentence. ■