School canteen staff jailed for meat theft in Sichuan

Eleven canteen employees of a primary school in Ebian Yi autonomous county, Sichuan province, were recently sentenced to prison for embezzling high-quality meat products intended for students, a local court said.

The People's Court of Ebian Yi autonomous county recently heard a case in which 11 canteen employees of a primary school took advantage of their positions to embezzle the canteen's high-quality meat products from September 2020 to December 2024, according to a recent post on the court's official WeChat account.

The meat was used either for personal consumption or resale, with the total involved amount reaching approximately 400,000 yuan ($55,690), the court said.

The court sentenced the 11 defendants to prison terms ranging from nine months to two years and two months for the crime of duty encroachment, along with fines ranging from 100,000 yuan to 130,000 yuan.

The illicit gains totaling 402,838.5 yuan were confiscated, and 38.5 kilograms of ribs worth 1,848 yuan were returned to the school.

The case was tried in open court, with primary and middle school principals from across the county invited to observe the proceedings, sending a clear signal of the judicial authorities' zero-tolerance attitude toward violations of minors' rights or embezzlement of campus nutrition funds, the court said.