Trial of deceased former Shanxi vice governor opens

The trial of Ren Runhou, former vice governor of north China's Shanxi Province, who passed away while under investigation by the Communist Party of China, opened Wednesday, with the deceased suspected of accepting bribes, embezzlement, and having huge amounts of unidentified properties.

Ren Runhou [File photo: ifeng.com]

According to a statement by prosecutors, the late Ren was alleged to have accepted 1.99 million yuan (about 291,789 U.S. dollars) and embezzled 691,674 yuan by taking advantage of his various positions from 2001 to 2011.

He was also alleged to have possessed a huge amount of properties with unidentified sources worth more than 12 million yuan as well as foreign currencies and objects.

Confiscation of his illegal gains and properties involved in the case was submitted to the court.

The case was heard by the Intermediate People's Court of Yangzhou in east China's Jiangsu Province.

Ren died of illness on Sept. 30, 2014.

During the trial, prosecutors and people with interests in the case presented evidence and conducted cross-examination.

About 60 people, including representatives of national and local legislators, political advisors, journalists, and members of the public were present at the trial.

The final court ruling will be announced at a later date.