Former head of Moutai given life sentence for taking bribes

Gao Weidong, former chairman of China's leading liquor brand Kweichow Moutai, was sentenced to life imprisonment for taking bribes of more than 110 million yuan ($15 million) on Friday, a court in Guizhou province said.

At the same time, Gao was deprived of political rights for life, and all his personal assets were also confiscated, according to the Liupanshui Intermediate People's Court in Guizhou.

In addition, Gao's illicit gains and relevant interests were ordered to be turned over to the state treasury, the court said.

The court found that from 1999 to 2022, Gao took advantage of his various positions in Guizhou such as deputy mayor of Guiyang, capital of Guizhou, head of the provincial transport bureau, and chairman of the Kweichow Moutai Group to help individuals and departments in many areas, including in business operation, project contracting, land development, and purchase of the liquor.

In return, he, directly or through others, received bribes amounting to over 110 million yuan, of which, 46.56 million yuan were unsuccessfully accepted, the court added.

Gao's behavior has constituted the crime of bribery, and the sum of the money he received was "extremely large", the court said.

"Given that some of his bribery attempts were unsuccessful, and he truthfully confessed his crime and voluntarily disclosed most of his bribes that investigators had not been aware of after being apprehended, we decided to leniently punish him," it added.

Gao told the intermediate court that he accepted the result and will not appeal to higher court.

More than 30 people from various walks of life attended the ruling on Friday.

Gao, 51, a native of Henan province, started his career from a division for planning, construction and environmental protection at the Guiyang Economic and Technological Development Zone in 1993. In late 1997, he joined the Communist Party of China.

In October 2000, he became deputy head of the Guiyang's Xiaohe district. Ten years later, he served as head of the Guiyang's transport department.

In 2012, he became deputy mayor of Guiyang. In 2017, he went to the provincial transport bureau and served as its deputy head.

From March 2020 to August 2021, Gao was the chairman of Kweichow Moutai Group.

In a report of Xinhua News Agency in November last year, the company posted an operating revenue of around 103.27 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2023, up 18.48 percent year-on-year. Its net profit rose 19.09 percent year-on-year to 52.88 billion yuan during this period.

After leaving the liquor group, Gao served as head of the Coal Geology Bureau of Guizhou province.

In May 2022, he was placed under investigation for suspected serious violations of the Party discipline and law. In February last year, he was indicted for alleged bribery.