Copper group executives sentenced on bribery charges

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-29 21:16

KUNMING - Three executives of the state-owned Yunnan Copper Group, China's third-largest copper producer, were sentenced in a bribery case on Monday, with one receiving the death penalty.

Yu Weiping, who was group vice board chairman and executive of various subsidiaries between 2000 and 2007, took bribes of about US$4.26 million and embezzled 41.25 million yuan (about US$6 million) in payment for goods, said the Intermediate People's Court of Kunming, southwestern Yunnan Province.

Yu also misappropriated 26.6 million yuan and lent the money to others, the court said. The money has been recovered.

The court imposed a death sentence on Yu after the first trial.

Yu's boss Zou Shaolu, formerly board chairman and general manager of the group, took 18 bribes amounting to more than 19 million yuan (including an attempted bribe of 8 million yuan) between 2003 and 2007.

The court jailed Zou for life but said he received leniency because he turned himself in, disgorged ill-gotten gains and confessed his crimes.

Wang Jianwei, the former general manager of a real estate company affiliated to the group, took bribes of 4.39 million yuan and US$14,000 between 2003 and 2007. He also embezzled 1 billion yuan from a real estate project in 2005.

Wang was given 20 years in prison.

It was not known whether the three planned to appeal.

Yunnan Copper Group employs about 20,000 people. Sales reached 39.2 billion yuan last year.