CHINA. BANK MANAGER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TAKING BRIBES

December 20, 2005: Wen Mengjie, 49, was sentenced to death for accepting bribes and embezzling public funds worth CNY15 million (US$1.85 million), Chinese media said.
A Beijing court handed the sentence down Tuesday against Wen, former director of the science and technology department in the Beijing branch of the Agricultural Bank of China.
Wen received CNY10.7 million in bribes from four information technology firms between 1999 and 2004 when he was in charge of purchasing electronic equipment and software for the bank, and he embezzled CNY4.3 million in 2003 and 2004 while he was purchasing automatic teller machines, the report said. (Sources: Dow Jones Commodities Service, 20/12/2005)