Former energy boss given life sentence for bribery

Li Dong, 64, a former deputy general manager of CHN Energy Investment Group, was sentenced to life imprisonment for accepting bribes totaling 108 million yuan ($14.8 million) by the Yichun Intermediate People's Court in Jiangxi province on Tuesday.

The court also ordered the confiscation of all his personal property and the deprivation of his political rights for life.

From 1999 to last year, Li utilized his positions, including deputy manager of China Shenhua Energy Company, a listed coal-based energy company under CHN Energy Investment Group, and deputy general manager of the CHN Energy Investment Group, to assist certain individuals and companies in matters such as product sales, coal procurement, business operations and position adjustments. In exchange, he received money and property totaling 108 million yuan, either directly or through intermediaries.

The court said Li's actions constituted the crime of accepting bribes involving a substantial sum. Acknowledging that he confessed to all his crimes and actively returned all illicit gains, the court imposed a lenient punishment in accordance with the law.

Li assumed the role of deputy general manager of the group in November 2017 and retired in March 2020. He came under investigation in February last year and was expelled from the Communist Party of China in August. He was prosecuted in December, and the court first heard the case in April, when he pleaded guilty.