A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced Ma Ming, a former senior political adviser in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, to life in prison for corruption.

Ma Ming, former vice-chairman of the Inner Mongolia regional committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, has been deprived of his political rights for life, according to the Intermediate People’s Court in Zibo City, East Shandong Province. from China).

The court found that Ma took advantage of various positions in Jilin Province and Inner Mongolia from 2000 to 2019 to seek benefits for others regarding business operations, job promotions and casework.

Ma was found guilty of accepting bribes amounting to more than 157.85 million yuan (about 24.93 million US dollars) in cash and valuables.

All of Ma’s personal property was confiscated and the illegal proceeds from corruption were recovered and handed over to the state treasury, the court said.

He said Ma’s case involved a particularly large amount of bribes and many cases over a long period of time, but he was given a lenient sentence because he confessed his offenses, showed remorse , provided additional information about his and others’ offenses and returned all of his illegal earnings.