From Procuratorate Daily via Yulun Jiandu, translated by CDT:
Li Xin, former Jining vice mayor of Shandong Province taken down after a Yulun Jiandu breaking story on his extortionism and corruption, was sentenced for a life imprisonment after being found taking bribes totaling 4.5 million yuan. These bribes were received by Li during 1991-2004 period while he was in three different offices, leading to vice mayor of Jining.
During the 14 years of extortionism, Li received or asked for bribes for 112 times from 40 organizations or individuals, including his underlings. During a meeting in Jinan in 2003, Li asked for a Longines wristwatch, 190,000 yuan, from an official with his city’s high-tech development zone. The unwitting briber didn’t have enough cash but bought the watch anyway by overdrafting his credit card.
The threshold of the most severe punishment for bribery or corruption in China is 100,000 yuan. Li took bribes of 100,000 yuan or more in 11 separate times. Once in 2003, he received 1 million yuan.
It was found that Li increased his appetite gradually in his corruption curve, year by year and with his position and power going up along the way.
During 2001-2003, the average annual income for Jining farmers was 3,000 yuan, that of urban workers about 10,000 yuan. As a vice mayor, Li’s salary should be no more than 50,000 yuan. But he raked in bribes totaling 1.4 million yuan those years, 140 times of workers’ income level and 470 times that of farmers. [Full Text in Chinese]
