CHINESE OFFICIAL GOT DEATH SENTENCE OVER $325M IN BRIBES
Yang Youlin, a Nanjing official, was sentenced to death in China for taking about $325 million in bribes.
Yang, 69, was sentenced on July 6, 2026, by the Changzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Jiangsu province, in a first-instance judgment. The court found he illegally accepted more than 2.21 billion yuan in money and property, equal to $325 million, the BBC reported.
The court said his offenses were “of an extremely serious nature” and “caused exceptionally heavy losses to the interests of the state and the people.”
What the court found
Yang held various positions in Nanjing from 1993 through 2023, Reuters reported.
The court said he took bribes in return for helping others with “undertaking projects, business operations, land grants and working capital,” the AP reported. The BBC specified that he helped people secure engineering contracts, land transfers and financing.
Yang was convicted of embezzlement, offering bribes, misappropriating public funds, abuse of power and money laundering.
China Daily reported that he received separate sentences for those offenses. The court then combined them into the death sentence he received for bribery.
The court also deprived him of political rights for life and ordered his personal assets confiscated.
Guilty plea, but no leniency
Yang pleaded guilty. The court said he “expressed his guilt and remorse” in his final statement.
The court also said the help he gave authorities “was insufficient to warrant a more lenient punishment.”
UPI reported that Yang exposed the criminal conduct of others, but the court said that did not warrant leniency.
Prosecutors presented evidence at public hearings before the verdict, and Yang’s defense cross-examined it, UPI reported.
Why a death sentence is rare
Yang’s case is part of President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption crackdown, which has reached military ranks and high-level banking, the BBC reported. Critics say the campaign has also been used to purge political rivals.
Death sentences for white-collar crimes are rare, but they are occasionally imposed, typically in cases involving more than 1 billion yuan, the BBC reported.
Former Inner Mongolia official Li Jianping was executed in 2024 for embezzlement and bribery.
In other cases, courts have handed down prison terms or suspended death sentences that were later commuted to life imprisonment. Some sentences were reduced when convicted officials reported on other offenders, the BBC reported.
The judgment ordered Yang’s personal property seized and directed authorities to recover the full amount he received in bribes.
