Former VP of Agricultural Bank of China gets life sentence for taking bribes

Lou Wenlong, former vice-president of the Agricultural Bank of China, was sentenced to life in prison for taking bribes worth more than 84.51 million yuan ($11.81 million), a court in Fujian province announced on Monday.

Lou was also deprived of political rights for life, with confiscation of all his personal assets, according to the ruling made by the Quanzhou Intermediate People's Court.

The ruling ordered his illicit gains and related interests to be turned over to the State treasury.

The court found that from 2005 to 2024, Lou took advantage of his positions in the country's banking system to seek benefits for other individuals and departments in various matters such as regulatory approval, investing in city commercial banks, financing loans and project contracting, and then accepted bribes of over 84.51 million yuan in return.

Lou has committed the crime of bribery and should be harshly punished, as the amount of bribes he received was "extremely large", causing "extremely huge" losses to the nation and the people, the court said.

However, the court added that it decided to show leniency because Lou confessed to his crime, voluntarily reported most bribes unknown to investigators and actively returned his illicit gains.

In May 2024, Lou, 67, a native of Zhejiang province, was placed under disciplinary and supervisory investigation. Six months later, he was expelled from the Communist Party of China.

In March, he was indicted on the charge of taking bribes. The court publicly heard his case in June.