THREE top officials of a city in Hunan Province were sentenced Thursday for taking bribes in a stunning web of corruption.

Li Dalun, 57, former Party chief of Chenzhou, was sentenced to death with a two-year suspension by a Changsha court, while Zeng Jinchun, the city’s former deputy Party chief and head of the local commission for discipline inspection, was sentenced to death. Zhou Zhengkun, the former mayor, was jailed for life in a separate trial by a Yiyang court on the same day.

Li took bribes of more than 14.34 million yuan (US$2 million) from 1999 to 2006. In exchange, Li helped local construction firms win bids on projects and handed out promotions to local officials. He also failed to account for another 17.65 million yuan.

From 1997 to 2006, Zeng took bribes valued at 30 million yuan and failed to account for 50 million yuan in cash.

Zhou, who was Chenzhou mayor from 2000 to 2003, had taken bribes of 12.8 million yuan.(SD News)