Song Jianguo, former head of Beijing Traffic Management Bureau, went on trial Monday for suspected bribe taking, a local court said.
According to Beijing First Intermediate People's Court, Song allegedly took advantage of his position by helping companies and individuals obtain license plates with the in-demand prefix of Jing A and accepted bribes worth more than 23 million yuan (3.7 million U.S. dollars) between 2004 and 2014.
The "Jing A" ("Jing" represents Beijing) plates are considered by many as privileged because they are mostly owned by government and public institutions.
The Jing A plates were the first batch of plates issued during the 1990s when private cars were rare, though they enjoy no actual privilege on the road, industry insiders said. Many affluent residents pursue them out of vanity.
Song was detained in August 2014. He disagreed with the accused amount of bribery during the trial.
The trial ended on Monday afternoon, and the verdict will be announced at a later date.
