FOUR Shenzhen officials were sentenced to imprisonment for abusing their power and taking bribes to fraudulently help a citizen obtain compensation for an illegal structure that was demolished, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

The citizen, surnamed Ji, and his cousin bought a parcel of land from a villager in Baguang Village, Dapeng New Area, in 2006 and built an illegal structure on the land.

In 2009, the Longgang District Government decided to conduct a demolition and relocation project in the Baguang community. Ji could not get compensation because his construction was illegal, according to the Daily report.

Subsequently, Ji attempted to get the demolition compensation by borrowing the identity of two Hong Kong residents surnamed Xu, who were formerly registered permanent residents of the village.

Four officials, including Fan, deputy head of the Baguang No. 1 demolition work group, Huang, head of the Baguang No. 1 resident group, Xue, director of Baguang community residents’ committee, and Ou, a staffer with the returned overseas Chinese federation in Kuichong Subdistrict, accepted Ji’s false identity and approved the application for compensation.

Ji eventually defrauded the government out of 5.19 million yuan (US$769,364) in compensation.

The People’s Procuratorate of Longgang District subsequently prosecuted Fan, Xue, Huang and Ou for their abuses of power and graft in Longgang District People’s Court.

All of the defendants besides Fan pleaded guilty to the charges.

The Longgang court delivered a first-instance judgment May 15, 2018. Fan, Huang, Ou were convicted of abuse of power and were sentenced to three years, two and a half years and one year and 10 months in prison, respectively.

Xue, convicted of abuse of power and graft, was sentenced to five years in prison. The four defendants lodged an appeal after the judgment was announced.

On Jan. 24, the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court made a second-instance ruling on the four defendants.

The court rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment.

Ji, who was dealt with separately, was convicted of fraud and bribery, and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

(Zhang Yu)