A construction worker who impersonated a Communist Party of China (CPC) official in order to take bribes says he will appeal the six-year jail term handed down to him on Wednesday.

Du Taiping, 49, a native of southwest China's Sichuan Province, claimed the prison sentence he received at Beijing's Dongcheng District Court was too harsh.

The court found that Du had taken 500,000 yuan (62,500 U.S. dollars) after deceiving a local Party official into believing that he was an influential Communist Party official.

Du had worked as a foreman for several construction companies in Beijing from 1988 to 2006.

While working at Beijing Temingda Science Trading Company, a commercial venture owned by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, Du pretended to be the firm's general manager and had the title printed on business cards. He also claimed to be a section chief of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee.

In 2000, Du began to repeatedly impersonate a section or division chief of the Organization Department of CPC Central Committee to impress people.

However, the deceit was exposed after Tian Yufei, former Party boss of Jianwei County in Leshan city, Sichuan, was found guilty of corruption and was sentenced to death, with a two-year reprieve, by the Intermediate People's Court of Chengdu, the provincial capital, in July 2006.

Du, who was introduced to Tian through others in 2003, accepted a bank credit with a deposit of 500,000 yuan on Sept. 21, 2001, from Tian who came to Beijing after hearing that Du had been promoted and might help him secure a higher post.

Du spent the money on entertainment and U.S. dollars and lent some of it to other people, the court was told.

The court found Du's activities had undermined the authority of government departments and hindered their normal operation. He was convicted of fraud and sentenced to six years in jail.

Source: Xinhua