Qingdao gang boss sentenced to death (2)

According to the verdict, Nie, together with his cohorts, started real estate and entertainment businesses in 1995 and quickly gathered a fortune.

In 1998, he began to expand his group, and an organized gang with relatively fixed members and clear internal structure was gradually formed. This highly disciplined organization was even named the "Nie Lei Company" after its chief, the verdict said.

The gang then set up new real estate companies and night clubs. At Xinyicheng Night Club, in downtown Qingdao, Nie organized women to offer sex services, which brought him profits of tens of millions of yuan, according to the verdict.

They also bribed a number of government and judicial officials for protection, which made police investigations very difficult in the early stage, the verdict said.

"Judicial officials have overcome a lot of hardships because the suspects have roped in some senior local officials, and a lot of evidence has been destroyed," Zou said.

The suspects include a number of police officers, such as Yu Guoming, head of the public security bureau of Shibei district, and Feng Yuexin, head of the Licang district police bureau.

No verdicts have been announced for these two former police chiefs.

Zhu Xun contributed to this story.