BEIJING: China executed a former executive of a top state-controlled asset management firm for corruption on Tuesday, state media reported. Bai Tianhui, the ex-general manager of China Huarong International Holdings (CHIH), was found guilty of accepting more than $156 million while offering favourable treatment in the acquisition and financing of projects between 2014 and 2018, state broadcaster CCTV said. CHIH is a subsidiary of China Huarong Asset Management, which focuses on bad-debt management as one of the country&#39;s largest asset management funds. Huarong has been a major target of President Xi Jinping&#39;s years-long graft crackdown, with its former chairman Lai Xiaomin executed in January 2021 for receiving bribes worth $253 million. Several other Huarong executives have also been snared in anti-corruption investigations. Death sentences for corruption in China are often issued with a two-year reprieve and then commuted to life in prison. But Bai&#39;s sentence, first handed down in May 2024 by a court in the northern city of Tianjin, was not suspended.&nbsp;He appealed against his conviction but the original verdict was upheld in February. The Supreme People&#39;s Court, China&#39;s highest court, confirmed the decision after review, stating that Bai&#39;s crimes were &quot;extremely serious,&quot; CCTV reported. &quot;(Bai) accepted bribes of an exceptionally large amount, the circumstances of his crimes were exceptionally serious, the social impact was especially egregious, and the interests of the state and the people suffered exceptionally significant losses,&quot; CCTV quoted the SPC as saying. Bai was put to death in Tianjin on Tuesday morning after meeting with close relatives, the broadcaster said, without specifying how he was executed. China classifies death penalty statistics as a state secret, though Amnesty and other rights groups believe thousands of people are executed in the country every year. Bai is the latest high-ranking figure to face punishment in a long-running crackdown on corruption in China&#39;s finance industry. Yi Huiman, former chief of China&#39;s top securities regulator, was placed under investigation for corruption in September. In March, Li Xiaopeng, the former head of state-owned banking giant Everbright Group, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for accepting bribes totaling 60 million yuan. Liu Liange, former chairman of the Bank of China, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in November 2024 for accepting bribes totalling 121 million yuan. Supporters say the anti-corruption campaign promotes clean governance, but critics say it also provides Xi with the power to purge political rivals.

This photo released by the Tianjin No.2 Intermediate People’s Court on May 28, 2024 shows Bai Tianhui (C), the former general manager of China Huarong International Holdings (CHIH), during his sentencing at the court on May 28, 2024. (TIANJIN NO.2 INTERME

China

China executed former China Huarong International Holdings executive Bai Tianhui for accepting $156 million in bribes between 2014-2018, marking the latest high-profile punishment in President Xi Jinping's ongoing anti-corruption campaign targeting China's finance industry.

China executes former senior banker for taking $156M bribes

DHAKA: A Bangladeshi court sentenced Sheikh Rehana, sister of former premier Sheikh Hasina, to seven years in prison Monday for corruption in a case involving the grabbing of lucrative plots in the capital. Rehana&#39;s daughter, Tulip Siddiq, who is a British lawmaker, was handed a two-year sentence in the same case, said Khan Mainul Hasan, prosecutor for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Hasina, who was given the death penalty for crimes against humanity last month, and 14 other government officials were condemned to five years of imprisonment. The 78-year-old former premier has sought refuge in India since her ouster last year following a student-led uprising, but Rehana&#39;s whereabouts remain unknown. Siddiq, who resigned as British anti-corruption minister in January after being named in graft probes in Bangladesh, has called the trial a &quot;persecution and a farce&quot;. Hasan said they had details of Siddiq&#39;s correspondence with Salahuddin Ahmed, the principal secretary to the then prime minister, exposing her role in the case. &quot;Tulip insisted that her aunt Sheikh Hasina allocate plots for her mother and siblings, as she herself took three -- one for her and two for her children,&quot; Hasan said. &quot;She called him (Ahmed), communicated via some encrypted apps, and even met him while she was in Dhaka.&quot; Judge Rabiul Alam quoted verses from the Quran as he read out the judgement. &quot;The court has full authority to try any Bangladeshi, whether the person is in the country or abroad,&quot; he observed. Hasina decried the latest verdict in a statement mailed to AFP on Monday. &quot;No country is free from corruption. But corruption needs to be investigated in a way that is not itself corrupt. The ACC has failed that test today,&quot; she said. The interim government would notify the British authorities about Monday&#39;s verdict, prosecutors said. There was no immediate reaction from Siddiq. However, in a recent interview with The Guardian newspaper, Siddiq said she was &quot;collateral damage&quot; in the feud between interim leader Muhammad Yunus and her aunt. Bangladesh has been in political turmoil since the end of Hasina&#39;s rule, and violence has marred campaigning for elections slated for February 2026. The United Nations says up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as Hasina tried to cling to power.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel stand guard outside a court in Dhaka on December 1, 2025 (AFP)

Bangladesh

Bangladesh sentenced Sheikh Rehana to seven years and her daughter, Tulip Siddiq, to two years for corruption. Former PM Sheikh Hasina, already condemned to death in another case, received five years as political turmoil deepens ahead of the 2026 elections.

Articles tagged with "Corruption"

China executes former senior banker for taking $156M bribes

Bangladesh court sentences former PM's sister, UK lawmaker