8 jailed for substandard subway cables

Eight people on Friday received jail terms ranging from seven years to life imprisonment for supplying substandard electric cables for subway construction in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

8 people receive jail terms for supplying substandard electric cables for subway construction in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, according to the intermediate people's court in the provincial capital of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, on March 29, 2019. [Photo: People’s Daily]

Wang Zhiwei, the legal representative of Shaanxi Aokai Cable Co., was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of producing and selling substandard products and bribing government officials, according to the intermediate people's court in the provincial capital of Xi'an.

Wang was also fined 21.5 million yuan (3.2 million U.S. dollars) and Aokai Cable Co. was fined 30.5 million yuan.

Seven others, including Aokai employees and partners, were handed jail terms ranging from 7 years to 12 years-and-3 months for similar crimes.

The case broke out in 2017 after an online story claimed Line 3 on the Xi'an subway used substandard cables and posed safety risks.

The court found that Aokai Cable signed several cables supply contracts for subway Line 3 between February and July 2015 and later supplied substandard cables in a bid to reduce costs.

The company was found to have sold 38.4 million yuan worth of substandard cables and had 2.3 million yuan worth of substandard cables in inventory.

Wang and three others offered 427,000 yuan in bribes to 14 government officials to win contracts. Meanwhile, when working as a salesman of another cable company, Wang offered another 580,000 yuan of bribes to three government officials to win sales, the court found.