On May 29, the Intermediate People’s Court of Dalian City in Liaoning Province of China publicly announced the first-instance trial result of the case of He Zehua, former Party member and deputy director of the China National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, on charges of accepting bribes and using influence for bribery. He was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, deprived of political rights for life, and had all personal property confiscated, with the death sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment after the two-year reprieve period expires, and no reduction of sentence or parole is allowed.
According to the court, He Zehua was convicted of accepting bribes and sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, with all personal property confiscated. Additionally, he was sentenced to four years in prison for the crime of using influence for bribery, along with a fine of 300,000 yuan. The final decision was to impose the death penalty with a two-year reprieve, and all personal assets were confiscated. After the two-year reprieve period expires, the death sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment, with no possibility of early release or parole.
The Dalian Intermediate People’s Court stated that from 1998 to 2023, He Zehua successively utilized his positions as Deputy Director (Deputy Manager) of the Jiangsu Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Bureau (Company), Director, and Manager of the Anhui Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Bureau (Company), General Manager of the Anhui China Tobacco Industry Company, and Deputy Director of the China National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau to provide assistance to relevant units and individuals in business operations, business contracting, promotion, and employee recruitment, receiving a total of over 943 million yuan in assets.
The court also mentioned that from 2014 to 2016, after leaving office, He Zehua used his previous positions as Deputy Director of the China National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, Deputy Director (Deputy Manager) of the Jiangsu Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Bureau (Company) to receive over 1.47 million yuan in assets through the actions of other state personnel.
He Zehua was officially arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes and using influence for bribery on July 24 of the same year. In his trial in Dalian, Liaoning province, on March 22 this year, he was accused of accepting over 9.43 billion yuan in bribes and receiving over 1.47 million yuan through influence peddling.
According to Caixin website, He Zehua is known as one of the most corrupt figures in the tobacco industry. Prior to him, Lu Ping, former General Manager of Hunan China Tobacco Corporation, was charged with accepting bribes of 413 million yuan and embezzling 135 million yuan. Following Lu Ping, in early January 2024, Gu Bo, former Deputy General Manager of Yunnan China Tobacco Industrial Co., Ltd., was also on trial for receiving shares and money amounting to over 350 million yuan.
In addition, He Zehua is the fourth senior management cadre to stand trial this year after the former Vice Chairperson of the Guizhou Political Consultative Conference, Zhou Jiankun, former Vice Chairperson of the Jilin Provincial Political Consultative Conference, Zhang Xiaopei, and former Deputy Director of the Tibet People’s Congress Standing Committee, Ji Guogang.
Since 2023, He Zehua is the tenth senior management cadre accused of involvement in cases involving over a billion yuan. The nine individuals before him were: Zhou Jiangyong, Cai Esheng, Wang Dawei, Cao Guangjing, Tian Huiyu, Sun Yuanliang, Yi Pengfei, Chen Rugui, and Zhou Jiankun.