Ex-official receives 14 years for bribery

Mo Jiancheng, 62, former member of the Communist Party of China Committee of the Ministry of Finance, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for accepting bribes worth 42.5 million yuan ($6.26 million) by Beijing Municipal No 1 People's Intermediate Court on Wednesday.

In addition, he was fined 4 million yuan and his illicit assets will be confiscated and handed over to the State, the court said.

Mo told the court he would not appeal.

The court said he took advantage of his position to gain benefits for individuals and enterprises regarding company operations, loan applications, job promotions and bidding for projects, then accepted huge bribes either through himself or his son between 2000 and 2017.

During those 17 years, he mainly served as mayor of Tongliao in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Party chief of Tongliao, Party chief of Baotou, vice-governor of Jiangxi province, deputy Party secretary of Jiangxi, director of the inspection team sent by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection to the Ministry of Finance.

He was expelled from the Communist Party of China and dismissed from public office in September 2017.

"Because he confessed his crime and cooperated with the judicial officers to return his ill-gotten funds, we gave him a lenient punishment," the court said in a written statement.