Former senior Hebei official sentenced to 15 years in prison for corruption

Xie Jilai, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of Hebei Provincial People's Congress, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, along with a fine of 7 million yuan ($979,000), for crimes of taking bribes by the First Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin Municipality on Friday.

According to the court, Xie repeatedly illegally accepted property and money from others from 1999 to 2020, amounting to more than 88.7 million yuan.

The ill-gotten gains from the case will be turned over to the state treasury.

From 2002 to 2017, Xie used his different positions, including deputy head of the Organization Department of the CPC Hebei Provincial Committee, and leveraged his authority and status to seek benefits for others in job promotion and adjustment, as well as project development.

Xie's actions constitute the crimes of bribery, said the court. Given the particularly enormous amount of bribes he received, he should be punished according to the law.

Considering the following reasons, that some bribery committed by Xie was not accomplished, and he has truthfully confessed his crimes, voluntarily disclosed most of the bribery facts unknown to the investigators, admitted and repented his guilt, reported others' offenses that constitute a significant contribution, and actively returned the ill-gotten gains, which have been fully recovered after the case, the court imposed a lenient penalty.

Xie, 70, a native of Jinzhou in Hebei, began working in 1972 and joined the Party in 1980.

The country's top anti-graft bodies, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, placed him under investigation in January 2022, after which he was expelled from the Party.