A former chief prosecutor in Tianjin Municipality was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for embezzling money and accepting bribes that totaled close to 20 million yuan (US$2.71 million), a Hebei Province court ruled.

Li Baojin, 65, former chief prosecutor of the People's Procuratorate of Tianjin, was handed the sentence after he took bribes of more than 5.62 million yuan (US$761,518) during his term as deputy director of the Tianjin Public Security Bureau and the chief prosecutor from 1996 to 2006, Legal Daily reported today.

Eight Tianjin-based firms bribed Li, the Beijing-based newspaper under the Ministry of Justice said.

The Shandong native was also convicted for embezzling 14 million yuan of public funds from the Procuratorate on eight separate occasions. The money was funneled to Tianjin Dexiang Group between March 2003 and November 2004, the Intermediate People's Court of Cangzhou, Hebei, ruled yesterday.

The Cangzhou court was designated by China's Supreme Court to hear the case, the report said.

The money Li embezzled was returned before he was caught, the report said.

Li's personal property will also be seized, the report added, citing the court.

Li was expelled from the Communist Party in November 2006 after the Central Committee of the Party discovered his abuse of power and severe violation of financial discipline.

(Shanghai Daily December 20, 2007)