Liang Sihan, an official with the Bank of China's (BOC) Zhuhai branch, was executed for helping defraud his bank of US$10.3 million, Xinhua reported.

Liang, former section chief of the bank's international transaction department, issued 31 fraudulent Letters of Credit totaling US$34.4 million and 6.84 million euros for two trade companies using the password of his supervisor.

In return, Liang received 5.79 million yuan (US$700,000) in bribes from the two companies. The fraudulent letters of credit caused a loss of US$10.3 million for the bank. The death sentenced was handed down in the midst a high-profile government campaign against corruption.

Also executed was Wang Liming, a former accounting officer at the China Construction Bank's Henan branch, who conspired with others to steal 20 million yuan from the bank using fraudulent papers, Xinhua said in a report on its Web site Tuesday.

Another Construction Bank employee, Wang Xiang, was executed for stealing 20 million yuan from the bank in an unrelated case.

(Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2004)