Former senior provincial political advisor sentenced to 17 yrs in prison

HOHHOT, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese court on Wednesday sentenced Xue Heng, a former senior political advisor of northeast China's Liaoning Province, to 17 years in prison for accepting bribes.

Xue took advantage of the various posts he held while working in Liaoning to assist others with business operations, project contracting, job promotions and other matters between 2001 and 2019, according to the verdict issued by the Bayannur Intermediate People's Court in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Xue had accepted money and goods worth more than 135 million yuan (about 19 million U.S. dollars), either by himself or through his relatives, between 2005 and 2021, according to the verdict.

He was also found guilty of taking advantage of his former posts at Liaoning to seek illegitimate benefits for certain individuals with the assistance of other state functionaries in August 2019 and accepting 863,000 yuan worth of money and property in return.

Xue was fined 6.2 million yuan and had his illegal gains from bribery recovered and turned over to the state treasury, the court said.