China has executed Bai Tianhui, the former manager of state-owned asset management company China Huarong International Holdings (CHIH). He was found guilty of accepting bribes totaling more than $156 million (about 1.1 billion yuan) between 2014-2018 in exchange for facilitating the acquisition and financing of projects. On 28 May 2024, an arbitration court in Tianjin sentenced Bai to death, along with ordering the confiscation of all his personal assets and the deprivation of political rights for life.
Later the High Court and the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) rejected his appeal. The SPC said in the verdict that the amount of corruption was “extremely large”, the situation was “extremely serious” and the state and the people suffered huge losses. On Tuesday morning, Tianjin Court implemented the penalty. Before this, Bai was allowed to meet her close relatives.
According to the Kaise Hua Tha scam
court, Bai abused several of his senior positions (general manager, head of investment banking department etc.) during 2014-2018. He made biased decisions in the acquisition of projects and financial transactions, accepting bribes worth hundreds of millions of yuan in return. This action is part of a comprehensive anti-corruption campaign that has been underway in China for the past several years. In the past, senior officials associated with CHIH, such as former chairman Lai Xiaomin, have been given similar punishments.
A day before this, as part of the anti-corruption campaign in China, former sports minister Gao Zhongwen has been sentenced to death by the court. However, a two-year reprieve has been given on the sentence, if no reprieve is obtained within this period, the sentence can be commuted to death. According to Chinese courts, Gao Zhongwen took a whopping $33.4 million (roughly Rs. 280 crore) in bribes. This money was taken from various business groups and sports organizations, in return for which they engaged in wrongful appointments, release of government funds and favoritism in projects.