Chinese Official Sentenced to 20 yrs. For Gambling Public Money

A former senior official in southern China has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for gambling away some 14 million US dollars in public money in Macau and Hong Kong. Li Weimin, 43, ex-head of Tangxia township in Guangzhou province, lost the money in a five-year spree which ended with his arrest in 2005. The self-confessed gambling addict was convicted of embezzling 110 million yuan (13.9 million USD) by Dongguan Intermediate People's Court.

Li lost most of the money during 257 visits to Macau and Hong Kong, autonomous Chinese territories known for their casinos and horse-racing respectively, between 2000 and 2004. He was also found guilty of taking $216,000 in bribes.

Chinese President Hu Jintao has described corruption as one of the greatest threats to the legitimacy of the Communist Party, and has announced various crackdowns to combat the problem.

China's prosecution office announced recently that China had punished more than 67,500 government officials since the beginning of 2003.