Former senior Henan official gets 11-year jail sentence for bribery

WUHAN -- Wu Tianjun, a former senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official in central China's Henan Province, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for taking bribes.

The court also seized Wu's personal assets of 1 million yuan (150,000 U.S. dollars) which will be turned over to the state treasury, according to the verdict announced on Friday by the Intermediate People's Court of Xiangyang City in central China's Hubei Province.

Wu, a former member of the standing committee of the CPC Henan Provincial Committee, took advantage of his positions to help others with business operations and promotions. He accepted money and valuables worth more than 11 million yuan personally or through others between 2004 and 2015.

His illicit gains have been confiscated, according to the court.

Wu had also served as head of the commission for political and legal affairs of the CPC Henan Provincial Committee as well as chief of CPC committees of Xinxiang City and Zhengzhou City.

Wu had confessed his crimes and returned his illegal gains willingly, all grounds for leniency, according to the verdict.

Wu accepted the ruling at the court and said he would not appeal.

The discipline inspection agency of the CPC announced in January that Wu had been expelled from the Party and dismissed from public office following a corruption investigation.