Fan Yifei, former deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes totaling more than 386 million yuan ($54.55 million), state media reported on Thursday. This verdict marks a significant development in China’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign targeting the financial sector.
The Huanggang Intermediate People’s Court in Hubei province found Fan guilty of exploiting his senior positions at the central bank and other financial institutions, including China Construction Bank, to illegally accept property and bribes. Following the two-year reprieve, Fan’s sentence is expected to be commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or further commutation.
In its ruling, the court emphasized the severity of Fan’s crimes, stating, “Fan Yifei accepted bribes of an extremely large amount, the circumstances of his crimes were extremely serious, the social impact was extremely bad, and the interests of the state and the people suffered extremely heavy losses.”
Fan, 60, is the highest-ranking official from the People’s Bank of China to be arrested under President Xi Jinping’s decade-long anti-graft campaign. He was placed under investigation in late 2022 and subsequently expelled from the Communist Party in 2023.
This case is part of a broader crackdown on corruption within China’s financial sector. Other high-profile figures caught in this sweep include Liu Liange, former chairman of the Bank of China, who pleaded guilty to accepting bribes exceeding 121 million yuan, and Wang Bin, former head of China Life Insurance.
The ongoing anti-corruption drive has also implicated Tang Shuangning, ex-chairman of China Everbright Group, who faces charges of bribery and corruption.
reuters
