Former senior official sentenced for bribery

Luo Yulin, a former senior official at the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for bribery and insider trading, a court in Shandong province announced on Monday.

The Qingdao Intermediate People's Court sentenced Luo after finding that he accepted bribes worth more than 220 million yuan ($30.70 million) between 1997 and 2023. The court said Luo used his various positions during that time to seek benefits from departments and individuals in business operations, project contracting and job promotions.

Luo, 66, was also deprived of his political rights for life, and all his personal assets were confiscated.

Additionally, the court sentenced Luo to six years in prison and fined him 8 million yuan for insider trading. From 2013 to 2014, Luo, as a person privy to insider information, explicitly instructed others to engage in related trading activities before significant information affecting securities trading prices was publicly disclosed, according to the court.

His actions had a significant impact on trading, the court said.

The court combined the penalties for both crimes and imposed the suspended death sentence, ordering the transfer of Luo's illicit gains and related interests to the State treasury.

In China, a suspended death sentence is typically commuted to life in prison if the inmate commits no further crimes during the two-year probation period, with the possibility of further reductions for good behavior. However, the court said Luo's crimes were particularly serious and had an extremely negative effect on society, declaring that if his sentence is later reduced to life imprisonment, he will not be eligible for further sentence reductions or parole.

Publicly available information reveals that Luo, a native of Henan province, began his career in 1976 and joined the Communist Party of China in 1984. Before his role at the commission, he spent many years in Qinghai province, where he served as deputy head of the provincial finance department and as vice-governor.

Luo was placed under disciplinary and supervisory investigation in May 2023 and expelled from the Party in November that year. He was indicted in June last year, and his trial began in November.