A Former senior government official in central China's Henan Province has been sentenced to life, after being convicted of taking more than 19 million yuan (US$2.37 million) in bribes.

Hubei Province's Jingzhou Intermediate People's Court, which heard the case, also deprived Shi Faliang, former director of Henan's provincial communication department, of political rights for life, according to a Beijing News report yesterday.

The court found Shi, when he was the vice director and the director of the department, took advantage of his power to intervene in bids for construction projects of high-speed roads, benefiting some companies and individuals.

He and his wife, Huang Yurong, took money and gifts as bribes. The combined value totaled more than 19 million yuan.

The court returned property recovered from Shi to the treasury, it said.

The Henan discipline inspection authority began to investigate Shi in October 2002.

The News said Shi had been the third consecutive director of the communication department found guilty of corruption.

One predecessor received a 15-year sentence, and the other a life sentence.

(Shanghai Daily August 5, 2006)