China's former justice min given death sentence for corruption

BEIJING: China's former Justice Minister and top public security official, Fu Zhenghua on Thursday, was given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve for corruption and abuse of power, local media reported.

China Daily reported that the Intermediate People's court in Changchun of Jilin province declared the order.

Earlier, Fu had also served as head of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, vice-minister of public security, and minister of justice.

According to prosecutors, as quoted by China Daily, Fu took advantage of his official authority or position to seek gains for others regarding business operations, official positions and legal cases, in return for which he illegally accepted money and gifts worth 117 million yuan (USD 7.3 million) either directly or through his relatives.

Earlier, one of China's highest-ranking officials in the finance sector was arrested on suspicion of taking bribes and abusing his power, according to a statement published by China's Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Cai Esheng, a former senior government official at China's banking regulatory commission (CBRC), has been arrested by Supreme People's Procuratorate on corruption charges.

Earlier in January, he was also expelled from the Communist Party of China, The Global Times had reported. Cai was the vice-chairman of the CBRC from 2005 to 2013 and he is being charged with corruption after 8 years of his retirement.

Notably, China is cracking down on people involved in such crimes and this is a key development as this time the arrest involves the name of a very high ranking official. T

he country is determined to combat corruption involved in the finance sector. Furthermore, a number of senior financial government officials have been investigated and expelled from the party recently.

According to The Global Times, the list includes the former deputy head of China Development Bank's branch in Hainan, Xu Weihua, and the former deputy head of the People's Bank of China's branch in Fujian, Lin Chuanwei.