'Brother Watch' sentenced to 14 years in prison

A court in Xi’an sentenced a former official of Shanxi province to 14 years in prison on Thursday for corruption.

Yang Dacai, former head of the Shaanxi provincial work safety administration, was jailed for 10 years for taking 250,000 yuan in bribes and another six years for holding unexplained properties worth 5.04 million yuan ($820,000). The concurrent punishment added up to a term of 14 years in jail, said the Xi’an Intermediate People's Court.

The money will be confiscated, with another 50,000 yuan as a fine, the court said.

Yang did not appeal against the first-instance verdict.

The disgraced official stood trial on August 31 and confessed to all the corruption charges.

Yang was given the moniker “Brother Watch” after a photo of him smiling and wearing a luxury watch at the site of a deadly highway crash in Yan’an, Shannxi province on August 26 last year, left the nation aghast.

The online anti-graft crusade soon led to an official inquiry.

After an initial investigation, Yang was dismissed from his post as a member of the Shaanxi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in September 2012. He was also thrown out as head and CPC chief of the provincial work safety administration.

He was expelled from the CPC and his case transferred to judicial authorities in February.

Yang Dacai, former head of the Shaanxi provincial work safety administration, listens to the verdict at Xi’an Intermediate People's Court in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, Sept 5. Yang was sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption. [Zhai Xiaoxue/Asianewsphoto]