ACCEPTING BRIBES, ABUSE OF POWER, LEAKING STATE SECRETS
Zhou was convicted of accepting bribes of about 130 million yuan (21.3 million U.S. dollars), according to the judgement.
The court ruled that Zhou had used his position to seek profits for five people, identified as Wu Bing, Ding Xuefeng, Wen Qingshan, Zhou Hao and Jiang Jiemin, and had personally accepted money and property worth 731,100 yuan from the latter.
Money and property worth 129 million yuan was accepted by his wife Jia Xiaoye and son Zhou Bin. Zhou was informed about these bribes after the fact.
According to the judgement, Zhou instructed Jiang Jiemin and Li Chuncheng to assist in the business activities of others, helping them to illegally obtain about 2.14 billion yuan and causing losses to the state of 1.49 billion yuan.
Zhou leaked five "extremely confidential" documents and one "confidential" document to Cao Yongzheng, an unauthorized person, directly contravening the State Secret Law.
The court statement said Zhou had taken "particularly huge bribes," but had confessed, pleaded guilty and repented his wrongdoing. The majority of the money was accepted by his relatives, without his prior knowledge. Zhou asked his relatives to return their illegal gains. All gifts and cash have now been recovered. These actions constitute "legal and discretionary grounds for lesser punishment."
The court said that Zhou's abuse of power and deliberate disclosure of state secrets were "particularly grave," but his disclosure of state secrets "did not have very serious consequences."
The court reached its verdict "in accordance with the facts, nature, and details" of Zhou's crimes, based on the harm done to society.
