Chinese county chief on 5,000 yuan salary took bribes and kickbacks worth 101 million yuan

The former party chief of Hebei’s impoverished Daming county, Bian Fei, 54, has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes, abuse of power and holding a huge amount of property that he could not account for.

Authorities announced in December, 2013 that Bian was being investigated for graft. His ill-gotten gains were estimated to be worth 101 million yuan (HK$128 million), the Southern Metropolis News reported.

Bian’s salary as county party chief was about 5,000 yuan (HK$6,300) a month, it added.

According to the verdict, Bian took bribes worth nearly 60 million yuan from granting promotions, project approvals and kickbacks from construction.

On top of that, he could not account for assets worth more than 40 million yuan. His abuse of power also caused losses to the public worth 7.76 million yuan.

The court said that since Bian had cooperated with investigators and had returned almost all of his illicit assets, the court decided to sentence him leniently.