By tf-lawyer.com On October 16, 2024, the Taiyuan Intermediate People’s Court in Shanxi Province publicly announced its verdict in the case against Wang Xuefeng, former member of the Standing Committee and Deputy Director of the Hebei Provincial People’s Congress. Wang was found guilty of bribery and bribery through the abuse of influence. He received a 15-year prison sentence for the bribery charge, along with a fine of 8 million yuan (approximately $1.1 million), and a 5-year sentence with an additional fine of 400,000 yuan (around $56,000) for the charge of abusing his influence. The court ordered the sentences to run consecutively, resulting in a total of 18 years in prison and 8.4 million yuan in fines. Additionally, all criminal proceeds and their gains that had been seized were ordered to be recovered and turned over to the state treasury.
The court’s investigation revealed that from 1999 to 2022, Wang Xuefeng exploited his positions in various roles, including as a member of the Hebei Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary, Executive Deputy Secretary, Director of the Hebei Provincial Supervision Department, Secretary of the Tangshan Municipal Committee, and Deputy Director of the Hebei Provincial People’s Congress, among others. He provided assistance in personnel selection, business operations, and job placements, receiving illegal payments amounting to over 84 million yuan (approximately $11.7 million). From 2018 to 2022, while serving as Deputy Director of the Hebei Provincial People’s Congress, he continued to leverage his position to secure improper benefits in cases and project contracts, totaling over 4.11 million yuan (around $570,000) in illegal gains.
The Taiyuan Intermediate People’s Court concluded that Wang’s actions constituted both bribery and abuse of influence, with both counts involving significant sums of money, thus warranting strict legal repercussions. However, given that Wang fully confessed to his crimes upon being apprehended, voluntarily disclosed many bribery facts that the authorities had not yet uncovered, and provided critical leads to solve other major cases—validated by further investigation—the court recognized his cooperation as a mitigating factor. As he showed remorse, actively returned illicit gains, and all relevant assets had been recovered, the court applied a more lenient sentence for his bribery charge and reduced the penalty for his abuse of influence charge accordingly.
(Reported by CCTV correspondents Xi Dan Ni and Zhang Sai)
