New | Two more allies of China's former security tsar taken down, each getting 20 years in jail
The dismantling of Zhou Yongkang's old power base continues, with aides jailed for 20 years
Two former aides of China's disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang were each jailed for 20 years for graft yesterday, following the sentencing of his two key allies on Monday.
Wang Yongchun, former deputy general manager of oil giant China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), was found guilty of taking 48 million yuan in bribes over more than a decade, possessing assets he could not account for, and abusing his position. He was fined 2million yuan (HK$2.45 million).
The verdict was handed down by a court in Xiangyang in Hubei province and reported on its microblog. Wang received a lighter punishment because he confessed to his crimes and handed over his ill-gotten gains, it said, adding he would not appeal.
Meanwhile, Guo Yongxiang - a former deputy governor of Sichuan province - was found guilty of receiving more than 43 million yuan in bribes, largely through his family network, between 2001 and 2013.
Guo also had significant assets he could not source and was fined 2 million yuan. He cooperated with the investigation, and received a reduced sentence, said a court in Yichang city, also in Hubei.
The rulings came a day after former CNPC chairman Jiang Jiemin was jailed for 16years, and Li Chuncheng , once Sichuan province's deputy Communist Party chief, was given 13 years after both were found guilty of graft.
Wang, 55, spent decades in the state oil sector during its boom era. The court found he took money from 67 sources between 2000 and 2013, and helped others run businesses that led to "particularly heavy losses of state interests" on instructions that Jiang made in 2004.
The dismantling of Zhou's former power network continues further with the graft trial of JiWenlin, the former vice-governor of Hainan province and once a staunch ally.
Ji is accused of illicitly receiving more than 20.4 million yuan in assets and bribes between 2002 and 2013, Xinhua said.
He worked under Zhou when the latter was the party boss of Sichuan and also when he became security minister. A Tianjin court began trying the case yesterday.
Zhou was sentenced to life imprisonment in June.
