Ex-Police Official on Trial in Chinese Graft Scandal
BEIJING — China put a former national deputy police chief on trial Tuesday for his role in the biggest corruption case of the Communist era, state media said.
Li Jizhou, a former vice minister of public security who had been in charge of border defense and anti-smuggling operations, was expected to face the death penalty. Eighteen others already have been sentenced to die for their roles in the multibillion-dollar smuggling scandal.
State television showed Li, the most senior official so far to face trial in the scandal, standing in the dock of a Beijing court to face charges of taking bribes.
The scandal unfolded in the southeastern port of Xiamen, where the Yuanhua Group is accused of smuggling more than $6 billion worth of cars, luxury goods, oil and raw materials in the early 1990s, paying off officials to facilitate and cover up duty evasion.
Li is also charged with involvement in another smuggling case, in the southern port of Shantou.
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