Wife, son of former Chinese minister convicted for graft

The wife and son of former Chinese Security Minister Zhou Yongkang, currently serving a life sentence for corruption, were sentenced on Wednesday to nine and 18 years in prison, respectively, on similar charges.

Zhou Bin, son of the former minister, was found guilty of accepting bribes and conducting illegal business operations, according to a court in the central province of Hubei, Xinhua news agency reported.

Zhou's wife Jia Ziaoye, 46, was sentenced to nine years in prison and a fine of $151,571 for accepting bribes.

Zhou, who was the head of the powerful security ministry between 2002 and 2007, was sentenced in June last year to life imprisonment for various corruption-related offences.

He was the most prominent senior Chinese leader to have been convicted by the anti-corruption campaign launched by President Xi Jinping after he assumed office three years ago.

At the beginning of this year, Li Dongsheng, former deputy security minister, who frequently collaborated with Zhou, was also sentenced to 15 years in prison for taking bribes.

Authorities began investigating Li precisely because of his relationship with Zhou, since his position in the ministry aroused suspicion, as he was a CCTV presenter for many years with no experience in security matters.

The wife of the former minister also worked for the same television channel.

--IANS

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