A Chinese court has sentenced former Nanjing official Yang Youlin to death after convicting him of accepting more than 2.2 billion yuan (about $325 million) in bribes over three decades.
The Changzhou Intermediate People’s Court delivered the verdict on Monday, also finding Yang guilty of embezzlement, abuse of power, misappropriation of public funds and money laundering — one of the largest corruption cases prosecuted in China in recent years.
Court findings showed Yang exploited senior positions held in Nanjing between 1993 and 2023 to manipulate engineering contracts, land transactions, business operations and financial dealings in exchange for money and valuable property.
Investigators said the illicit benefits totalled over 2.214 billion yuan.Between 2014 and 2016, Yang also conspired to embezzle 12 million yuan in government funds, paid more than 25 million yuan in bribes to other officials, diverted 15 million yuan in public funds for private business, and caused state losses of 23 million yuan through illegal land deals and unauthorised demolitions.
He also attempted to launder one million yuan in criminal proceeds in 2023.The court acknowledged Yang’s cooperation with investigators but ruled the scale of his crimes outweighed any mitigating factors. Yang pleaded guilty in hearings held in March and April and expressed remorse. The court ordered confiscation of his assets and stripped him permanently of his political rights.
