China state-owned daily news program Xinwen Lianbo reported on December 29 that the former Community Party secretary of the City of Fuzhou, Xiao Yi, pleaded guilty to corruption charges in the Zhejiang Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court.
As director from 2008-2021, Yi was accused of accepting more than 125 million Chinese yuan ($18 million) in bribes related to construction programs and illicit promotions.
Yi also pleaded guilty to charges related to business transactions between himself and Bitcoin miners during the period from 2017-2021, according to Cointelegraph. Xinwen Lianbo reports:
“During his 2017 to 2021 tenure as the Communist Party Secretary of the City of Fuzhou, Xiao Yi provided support to cryptocurrency mining companies in the form of subsidies, capital aid, and electricity assurance. These acts were contrary to national regulations, the theory of New Development, and led to massive losses in public property, leading to adverse consequences.”
Yi “abused his power to introduce and support enterprises to engage in virtual currency ‘mining’ activities that do not meet the requirements of national industrial policy.”
A government probe also claimed to have found that he’d also taken bribes, stuffed himself at swanky banquets, and exploited his status for sex.
He is the eighth Chinese Communist Party official to face investigation this year, as Chinese President Xi Jinping continues his anti-corruption, anti-crypto crusade.
