Company official sentenced to death for bribery

By Chen Qian  |   2008-6-26  |     ONLINE EDITION

CHEN Shuangquan, former board chairman of a freeway construction company in Shaanxi, was sentenced to death for accepting more than 17 million yuan (US$2.5 million) in bribes, the province's Higher People's Court yesterday approved

It is the biggest bribery case in Shaanxi Province since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Sanqin Daily reported today.

The court said Chen accepted bribes from project bidders when in charge of construction for Huangling-Yan'an freeway, Xi'an-Hanzhong freeway, and an airport highway in Xianyang City.

The court's investigation found Chen had taken more than 17 million yuan in bribes since he was elected president and Party chief of the Shaanxi Provincial Expressway Construction Group in 2001, the report said.

Chen was given two years probation because he confessed to police. His family members returned part of the bribe money after he was caught, the report said.

Born in 1946, Chen is a Shaanxi native. He graduated from Xi'an Jiaotong University in 1970. The Shaanxi government began to investigate this case in June 2007.