Former top official charged on multiple accounts

Wang Like, a former top official in charge of political and legal affairs in East China's Jiangsu province, went on trial at the Changchun Intermediate People's Court in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin province on Friday. He is accused of taking and offering bribes, shielding gang members and forging identity documents.

Wang was charged with taking bribes of more than 440 million yuan ($65.65 million) by taking advantage of his positions as a senior official in the public security and political and legal affairs departments of Liaoning and Jiangsu provinces, according to the prosecutors.

He was also charged with offering bribes of more than 97 million yuan to senior officials in the country's public security sector, including Sun Lijun, former vice-minister of public security.

Wang acted as the protector of the local gang members in Louhe, Liaoning province for a long period, condoning their illegal activities, which severely hurt the local economy and local society, according to the prosecutors.

Wang also abused his power to forge multiple ID cards for himself, his relatives and people that had special relationships with him.

The prosecutors presented evidence during the trial. Wang and his defender fully expressed their opinions and pleaded guilty in court.

The verdict will be made at a later date.

How Wang bribed Sun huge amounts under the guise of giving him "a little seafood" received wide public attention in China when an anti-graft documentary revealed details of Sun's downfall in January.

It showed that Wang offered Sun more than 90 million yuan in "seafood boxes" over the years. To bribe his way up, Wang visited Sun in Beijing four or five times a year. He gave a small seafood container with $300,000 cash inside during every visit to Sun, who helped him become the police chief in Jiangsu and later head of the political and legal affairs commission of the Jiangsu provincial Party committee.

In October 2020, Wang turned himself in and received investigation conducted by the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission.