China executes housing department official for corruption

BEIJING - China has executed a housing department official for embezzling public fund amounting to 120 million yuan ($18 million), a report said Friday.

The official, 46-year-old Li Shubiao, was executed Thursday in China’s Hunan province, China Daily reported.

Li was the former director of the department of government subsidy for housing in Chenzhou city. He was found to have embezzled public funds amounting to 120 million yuan during his tenure, most of which had been squandered in gambling.

The case is considered as one of the country’s top cases of corruption, because of the alleged involvement of many top officials and a huge amount of money, the report said.

According to another report published in the Guangzhou Daily, Li often travelled to Macao for gambling with the public fund before his detention in 2005.

Li later confessed that he spent about 100 million yuan in Macao. “At first, I won more than 10 million yuan. I thought gambling will bring me more money, but I was wrong,” he was quoted as saying.

Li’s personal property was also confiscated.