Mistress of Cheng Kejie Sentenced to Life Imprisonment

Mistress of Cheng Kejie Sentenced to Life Imprisonment

Li Ping, mistress of Cheng Kejie, was sentenced to life imprisonment today by the No.1 Intermediate People's Court of Beijing.

Cheng Kejie, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, was sentenced to death on July 31.

Cheng was found guilty collaborating with Li and taking 41 million yuan in bribes when he served as deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chairman of the people's government of Guangxi.

Li was convicted of smuggling and taking bribes. According to the court verdict, Li is deprived of her political rights. Her personal possessions of 26.88 million HK dollars are to be confiscated in addition to a fine of 400,000 yuan.

The No.1 Intermediate People's Court of Beijing held a public hearing on July 27 concerning Li's accepting of bribes and smuggling charges.

In 1993, Li, a Hong Kong businesswoman, and the former leader of Guangxi reached a deal that they would divorce their respective spouses and then get married. They also agreed that they would collaborate in making illegal profits by using Cheng's political connections.

From early 1994 and early 1998, the pair accumulated wealth by taking bribes. The two deposited all their illegal earnings in Hong Kong, with the help of a Hong Kong businessman, Zhang Jinghai.

Between 1992 and 1994, Li and Zhang sold four duty-free import cars, evading 380,000 yuan in custom duties.

Li confessed to all the criminal activities she has been involved along with Cheng and Zhang. Meanwhile, she has returned all her illegal earnings and told the court of crimes committed by Cheng.

With Li's confession, all the illegal money including 11.5 million yuan paid to Zhang for his help in transferring and cashing the deposits has been reclaimed.