A former vice-mayor of Zhejiang's capital, Hangzhou, was sentenced to death yesterday after being found guilty of taking bribes and embezzling funds to the value of 200 million yuan (HK$239 million), state media reported yesterday.
The case of Xu Maiyong, pictured, caught the nation's attention due to the fortune he amassed, the numerous luxury flats he owned and the many mistresses he kept. He became known as 'Triple Plenty Xu'.
The Intermediate People's Court in Ningbo, Zhejiang, handed down the sentence after hearing how he had taken a total of 145 million yuan in cash and gifts in return for helping companies and people obtain land, promotions and tax breaks during his time as head of the government of Hangzhou's West Lake district and vice-mayor of the provincial capital between 1995 and 2009, said Xinhua.
The court also heard how Xu embezzled more than 53 million yuan of state assets.
Xu, 52, is one of the highest-ranking officials to have received the death sentence in the past four years.
Caixin Century magazine reported on its website that most, if not all, convicted corrupt officials of vice-ministerial level or above had managed to escape death since Zheng Xiaoyu, the former director of the State Food and Drug Administration, was executed for corruption in July 2007.