Ex-AgBank chief receives life term

A former top official of one of China's Big-Four banks was yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of bribery.

Yang Kun, 49, former president of the Agricultural Bank of China, was found guilty of taking bribes worth over 30.79 million yuan (US$4.9 million), the Intermediate People's Court of Nanjing said yesterday.

The bribes were given to Yang and his relatives between 2005 and 2012 as cash of yuan, Hong Kong dollar and US dollars, gold bullion, art masterpieces as well as mahogany furniture, the court said.

Yang's personal assets and illegal earnings were confiscated.

The verdict took into account that Yang actively cooperated with the prosecutor and confessed after he was detained in 2012, the court said.

A graduate of the elite Nankai University, Yang was expelled from the Party on May 20 after its disciplinary watchdog said he had "accepted a huge amount of bribes".

Yang joined AgBank in 1983, and became vice president in January 2009.

The verdict came after at least two other high ranking banking officials suspected of taking bribes were being investigated.

The Bank of Beijing said on Tuesday that Lu Haijun, a member of the board, is being investigated for "serious disciplinary violations," — a usual euphemism for graft.

Late January, Mao Xiaofeng, former president of China Minsheng Banking Corp, resigned "for personal reasons" and was said to be under investigation by China's anti-corruption body.

Media reports have linked Mao's fall with a probe into former political adviser Ling Jihua who was put under police investigation last month for "serious disciplinary violations."

The government's probe into the financial sector seeks to eradicate corruption in business and politics.