The former chairman of one of China’s biggest banks was jailed for 15 years Friday, for taking bribes to arrange loans, his lawyer said, in a case that added to a string of high-profile graft cases at state-owned banks.
Zhang Enzhao(º†ÊÅ©ÁÖßÔºâresigned 16 months ago as chairman of China Construction Bank Ltd., one of China’s top four state-owned banks. The bank said at the time that he was quitting for personal reasons, but later disclosed that he was suspected of unspecified wrongdoing.
Zhang was sentenced by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court, where he pleaded guilty last month, said defense lawyer Gao Zicheng. [Full Text]
Read Danwei’s post: “Corrupt Banker Zhang Enzhao on Caijing Cover,” which translates an article from Caijing and says, “On December 16, 2004, Zhang Enzhao spoke solemnly on Chinese national television about devoting himself ‘whole-heartedly, taking one solid footstep at a time,’ in fulfilling his duties. As the 58-year-old banker sought enthusiastically to convince the audience that he deserved the title of ‘Economic Person of the Year,’ few would have guessed that his days were numbered as the top man at China ‘s third largest bank.”