Former senior Hebei provincial legislator sentenced for taking bribes

TAIYUAN, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) — Wang Xuefeng, former deputy head of the Standing Committee of the Hebei Provincial People’s Congress, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for bribery-related crimes.
The sentence was handed down by the Intermediate People’s Court of Taiyuan in Shanxi Province, north China, on Wednesday.
Wang was also fined 8.4 million yuan (1.18 million U.S. dollars) and his illegal gains from bribery will be recovered and turned over to the state treasury, according to the court ruling.
The court found that Wang had abused his power and the convenience gained from his various posts in Hebei to provide assistance to others in matters such as official selection and appointment, business operation, and job arrangements, illegally accepting money and gifts worth over 84.07 million yuan in return.
After Wang retired, he abused the influence he had gained from the posts he formerly held to seek unfair benefits for others, illegally accepting cash and valuables totaling over 4.11 million yuan, the court ruling said.
The court also noted that Wang had cooperated in both the investigation and in returning his illegal gains, and had provided information that helped investigation into other major cases. These facts were taken into consideration when handing down the sentence. ■