Former Sichuan official sentenced for corruption

Fan Yi, a former senior official in Sichuan province, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Luzhou, Sichuan, on Friday for taking bribes.

The Luzhou Intermediate People's Court also imposed a lifelong deprivation of political rights and confiscation of all Fan's personal assets.

Fan previously served as director of the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Statistics, according to a statement released by the court on its official WeChat account.

The court found that Fan illegally accepted money and gifts worth about 107 million yuan ($15.8 million) between 2003 and 2020, although part of that had not been actually obtained by the time the case was investigated.

In return, Fan used his position to help certain parties obtain land use rights, project contracts and property registration, the statement said.

The illicit gains and their proceeds already seized will be turned over to the State treasury, the court added.