Former Jiangxi official jailed 20 years for 92 million yuan in bribes

Hong Lihe, former deputy director of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Jiangxi province, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday after being convicted of accepting more than 92.2 million yuan ($13.49 million) in bribes.

The sentence was handed down by the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court, which found Hong guilty of bribery, abuse of power, and money laundering. In addition to the prison term, Hong was ordered to pay 7.5 million yuan in fines, and his illegal assets were confiscated by the state.

The court found that between 2000 and 2024, Hong leveraged his positions as mayor of Xinyu, vice-governor of Jiangxi, and vice-chairman of the provincial legislature to provide illicit favors. These included assisting entities and individuals with business operations, project contracts, and job promotions in exchange for massive payoffs.

Between 2010 and 2013, while serving as vice-governor, Hong was found to have abused his authority by helping others secure provincial land-use quotas. The court said the impact of his actions was "exceptionally severe", resulting in significant losses to national interests.

Investigations also revealed that from 2020 to 2023, Hong attempted to conceal his corruption by using the bribes to purchase real estate and large-scale certificates of deposit, according to the court.

Despite the severity of the crimes, the court said it granted some leniency as Hong pleaded guilty and confessed to other criminal activities.