Zhang Quan, former vice director of the provincial communications department, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and removed from his posts for taking bribes, media reports said yesterday.

Zhang, who acted as a vice director of the communications department from March 1998, has also been sentenced to 14 years in prison and stripped of political rights for three years.

Authorities didn't reveal the 26 other officials implicated in the probe but said 25 of the cases have been transferred to prosecutors to face criminal charges.

Eighteen of the 26 were from entities under the department's jurisdiction.

Money involved in the case totalled more than 40 million yuan (US$5 million).

Zhang took 1.54 million yuan in bribes from a local company from 2002 to 2004 through his son Zhang Yipeng.

In return, the company received favorable treatment on several road construction projects.

Between 2001 and 2004, Zhang accepted, in person or through his wife, nearly 100,000 yuan in bribes from eight individuals.