Banker gets suspended death penalty for graft

A former official who worked for banks in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region for more than two decades was sentenced to a suspended death on Friday for corruption, embezzlement and accepting bribes of more than 600 million yuan ($87 million).

Yang Chenglin, 66, ex-chairman of the Bank of Inner Mongolia, made use of his positions to offer "aid" for others and then asked for illegal benefits of more than 307 million yuan between 2000 and 2013, according to the ruling by the region's Baotou Intermediate People's Court.

Under the Criminal Law, Yang should be sentenced to death in such a situation, "but given that he voluntarily confessed after he was detained to corruption that judicial authorities had not known about, and pleaded guilty, we decided to sentence him to death with a two-year reprieve," the court said.