A?senior doctor has been sentenced to six years in jail for
accepting a bribe of 430,000 yuan (US$57,469).
Zhao Mingzhong, 44, had lodged an appeal against the previous
verdict, but it was rejected by the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate
People's Court.
Zhao was a cardiovascular expert and was director of several
departments in the hospital, which the court did not name.
He was employed by the hospital in April, 2005, as an expert
with pioneering achievements in the field of cardiovascular disease
treatment.
The cardiovascular doctor was also in charge of medical
researching, training and administrative management with his
departments.
The bribe came from one of the hospital's medical appliance
suppliers, the prosecutors said.
Dong Disheng, manager with Shanghai Kaichuang Medical
Appliances, paid a downpayment of 430,000 yuan for Zhao's apartment
at the end of 2005.
Dong claimed to have loaned the money to Zhao but no IOU was
tendered to the court.
When the hospital launched a crackdown on illegal deals among
staff in March, Zhao asked Dong to provide a fake receipt to
indicate he had paid off the debt.
When prosecutors were tipped off they arrested Zhao in May and
found the debt was still not paid off.
Zhao's family paid 430,000 yuan to the judicial authority after
his arrest.
As part of the verdict, the money would be confiscated as
punishment for his crime.
Zhao appealed to the court, claiming the jail term was too long,
after a district court imposed the sentence on September 10.
Court officials said mercy was given upon his verdict
considering Zhao's family turned in full amount of the bribe to
authority, and Zhao had been cooperative in the crime
investigation.
(Shanghai Daily October 26, 2007)