Ying Guoquan, board chairman of Wenzhou Vegetable Basket Group is on trial. [Photo/66wz]

Sixteen people, mostly senior executives of a state-owned enterprise, were tried by a court in East China for a massive graft case which involved 426 million yuan ($67.6 million), court officials said Saturday.

Ying Guoquan, board chairman of Wenzhou Vegetable Basket Group, and his managers were accused of pocketing 220 million yuan during the restructuring of the fresh farm produce state company, said officials with the Intermediate People's Court of Wenzhou in eastern Zhejiang province.

The court was told that, for one account, Ying bribed local government officials into allowing him to take advantage of the land use rights of about 325 mu (21.67 hectares) under the state-owned company, from which he profited 115.79 million yuan.

The trial, which began on Wednesday, was adjourned on Saturday without the announcement of the court decisions.

The case was the second in this week that underscored the alarming situation of corruption in SOEs, especially during the restructuring process, a time when supervision is often lax.

A Southwest China court has upheld the death sentence for a former SOE boss convicted of graft and embezzlement totaling over 30 million yuan ($4.72 million).

Wang Guanchao, former board chairman of Beijing Triple Nine Automobile Industrial Co, Ltd, and others were found to have pocketed about 26.3 million yuan from the restructuring of the SOE, and Wang embezzled another 4 million yuan in public funds for his personal business, court officials said.