Former Official of SOE Subsidiary Gets Suspended Death Sentence in Record-Setting Bribery Case

(Beijing) – A former official of a state-owned enterprise (SOE) subsidiary was convicted in Heilongjiang province on Friday of taking a record 307 million yuan ($45.4 million) in bribes.

Yu Tieyi, a deputy general manager of a logistics company affiliated with Heilongjiang Longmay Mining Holding Group Co. Ltd., one of the top SOEs in Heilongjiang, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve by a city court.

The 307 million yuan in bribes that Yu received from 2005 to 2011 is the largest amount an official has been charged with receiving in the history of the People's Republic of China. Previous record-holder Bai Enpei, a former party chief in Yunnan province, received the same punishment in Henan province on Oct. 9. Bai had accepted 246 million yuan in bribes.

At least seven senior party officials, including former security chief Zhou Yongkang, have been indicted or been found by anti-corruption investigators to have embezzled or taken bribes of at least 100 million yuan.

Yu, 62, who was detained by Heilongjiang anti-corruption authorities in 2012 and arrested a year later, was found to have helped suppliers secure contracts and manipulated procurement prices in favor of subcontractors, court documents show. In return, he received a stake in some of the firms or was paid as an adviser.

Yu had a particular penchant for luxury cars and luxury watches, according to the anti-graft agency in Heilongjiang. Investigators uncovered dozens of expensive vehicles in his possession, including Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars.

"I would feel bad if there was a day when I was not given money," he was quoted as saying in an article published on the Heilongjiang Commission for Discipline Inspection website on Sept. 3, 2014.

Anti-corruption authorities did not say how Yu's crimes came to light.

Contact reporter Li Rongde (rongdeli@caixin.com); editor Kerry Nelson (rongdeli@caixin.com)