A former official of the Shanxi Provincial Coal Mine Safety Supervision Administration has been sentenced to 13 years behind bars for taking huge bribes and possessing huge mount of property with unproven sources, court source said Sunday.

The first instance verdict was made by the Yingze District Court of Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi. The court found that Diao Min, former chief of the technology and equipment department of the provincial coal mine safety supervision administration, had took bribes totaling 1.01 million yuan (about 126,000 U.S. dollars) plus 8,000 U.S. dollars by taking advantage of his post between 2001 and 2004.

The court found that Diao took the money to help bribers to pass safety examinations and assessment.

The court also found that Diao had possessed another 3.18 million yuan which he could not identify the sources.

Source: Xinhua