China executes ex-banker in bribes, bigamy case

BEIJING: China Friday executed a former top banker accused of taking $260 million worth of bribes, as well as other forms of corruption and bigamy, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Lai Xiaomin, the former chairman of Huarong -- one of China´s largest state-controlled asset management firms -- was put to death by a court in the northern city of Tianjin, CCTV said. "The amount of bribes received by Lai Xiaomin was extremely large, the crime´s circumstances were particularly serious and the social impact was particularly severe," CCTV quoted the Chinese Supreme People´s Court, which reviewed and approved the execution order, as saying. The report did not specify how Lai was executed, but said he was allowed to see close relatives before his death.