Former NEA head gets 13-year bribery sentence

Liu Baohua, former deputy head of the National Energy Administration, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for accepting bribes worth more than 70 million yuan ($11.04 million), according to ruling made by Qingdao Intermediate People’s Court in Shandong province on Wednesday.

Liu was also fined 3 million yuan, and his illicit gains and relevant holdings were ordered confiscated and turned over to the national treasury.

From 2000 to 2020, Liu took advantage of his positions and power to seek profits for others in company operations, enterprise reformation, project contracts and children’s school placement, and accepted more than 70.73 million yuan in return, according to the ruling.

Liu’s behavior constituted the crime of bribery and the amount he procured was particularly large.

Given that Liu confessed to the crime and was cooperative in returning his illegal gains as well as providing facts investigators did not know, it was decided to leniently punish him.