Death Sentence for Former STMA Leader

The Intermediate People’s Court of Dalian has sentenced He Zehua, former deputy chief of China’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, to death for taking bribes, reports Xinhua.

The sentence comes with a two-year reprieve, after which the penalty could be commuted to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole or further commutation.

He was also deprived of his political rights for life, all of his personal property was confiscated, and his illegal gains were turned over to the state treasury. 

The court found that between 1998 and 2023, He took undue advantage of his various positions, including those as a senior official at local tobacco monopoly agencies, as well as the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration deputy chief, to illegally assist his connections in business operations, project contracting and personnel promotion and recruitment

In return, He accepted more than RMB943 million ($132.6 million) in money and gifts.

In its ruling, the court considered the large amounts of money involved and He’s cooperation with the investigators and in returning the illegal gains, which have been recovered in full.

Several STMA leaders are under investigation for corruption. Earlier this month, authorities arrested former STMA head Ling Chengxing and announced a probe into the activities of STMA Deputy Head Xu Ying.