Former official indicted for bribery, insider trading

Luo Yulin, a former deputy-ministerial-level official in the State Council's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, has been charged with accepting bribes and insider trading by the Qingdao People's Procuratorate in Shandong province, the Supreme People's Procuratorate announced on Tuesday.

It said the National Commission of Supervision and the Qingdao municipal public security bureau recently concluded an investigation into Luo, and the Qingdao procuratorate was assigned to handle the case.

Prosecutors have informed Luo of his rights, interrogated him and listened to the opinions of his defense counsel.

The prosecution has accused Luo of using his positions, such as director of the Qinghai provincial State-owned assets bureau, director of the Qinghai provincial economic and trade commission, vice-governor of Qinghai, and chairman of the board of supervisors of the State Council's State-owned Key Large Enterprises, to seek benefits for others. In return, he accepted a large amount of money and property.

As an insider privy to information with a significant impact on securities trading prices, Luo explicitly informed others to engage in related trading activities before the information was publicly disclosed. The circumstances of his case were particularly severe, and he should be held criminally responsible for the crimes of bribery and insider trading, the top procuratorate said.

Luo, from Henan province, worked in Qinghai province for nearly 40 years. He was vice-governor of Qinghai from September 2004 to November 2015.

From November 2015 to September 2018, he served as the chairman of the board of supervisors of the State Council's State-owned Key Large Enterprises. That function was transferred to the National Audit Office in 2018 due to institutional reform of the State Council. After that, he became a deputy-ministerial-level official in the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

He was placed under investigation in May last year, expelled from the Communist Party of China in November and arrested in December.