Former China Development Bank sentenced to 14 years

BEIJING - 5 Aug 2017: Yao Zhongmin, former chairman of the board of supervisors at China Development Bank (CDB), has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for accepting bribes, the official Xinhua news agency reported Saturday.

Yao was also fined 3.5 million yuan (about 520,000 U.S. dollars). All his illegal profits will be turned over to the state treasury, according to the verdict issued on Friday by the Intermediate People's Court of Baoding City in north China's Hebei Province.

He had also served as deputy chief of the Communist Party of China (CPC) committee at the CDB and vice president of the bank.

Yao took advantage of his positions to secure loans and projects for others, and accepted money and valuables worth nearly 36.2 million yuan either personally or through others, including his brother Yao Zhongquan.

It was noted that Yao had confessed his crimes and returned his profits willingly, all grounds for leniency.

The discipline inspection agency of the CPC announced in September 2016 that Yao had been expelled from the CPC and removed from public office following a corruption investigation.