Chen Gang, a former vice mayor of Beijing, pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of accepting 129 million yuan ($18.5 million) of bribes, the Intermediate People’s Court of Nanjing in Jiangsu province said on its official social media account.
Chen expressed remorse in his final statement, the court said. A sentence will be announced at a later date.
The former vice mayor was labeled the “first tiger to fall in 2019” when authorities announced in January a corruption investigation of the former rising star. Details on his extravagant life have drawn high attention.
Chen took advantage of his positions to help some companies benefit from construction projects in exchange for money and gifts worth more than 128.9 million yuan between 2003 and 2018, prosecutors said.
More than half the bribery was received during 2018, when he was named head of the Chinese Association of Science and Technology’s secretariat.
Chen previously held various posts in the Beijing municipal government, including head of the urban planning committee, where he directed and oversaw giant, citywide construction projects in preparation for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.
When he was transferred to the Chinese Association of Science and Technology, an academic body, he feared his political career might come to an end and started to step up efforts to accumulate wealth through bribery, according to several sources.
Chen Gang, a former vice mayor of Beijing, pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of accepting 129 million yuan ($18.5 million) of bribes, the Intermediate People’s Court of Nanjing in Jiangsu province said on its official social media account.
Chen took advantage of his positions to help some companies benefit from construction projects in exchange for money and gifts worth more than 128.9 million yuan between 2003 and 2018, prosecutors said.
When he was transferred to the Chinese Association of Science and Technology, an academic body, he feared his political career might come to an end and started to step up efforts to accumulate wealth through bribery, according to several sources.
