Li Chuanliang, deputy mayor of Jixi in Heilongjiang province during the early 2010s, is accused of having pocketed as much as 3.6 billion yuan (US$423 million) in bribes and embezzled public funds.
Details of the corruption charges against Li, 61, were only made public days ago, six years after he fled abroad, presumably to the United States.
Investigators had already found evidence of his wrongdoing, a Heilongjiang court that published details of the case on October 11 said.
Li’s illegal gains would be seized after the trial, which will be held after a six-month public notice period, according to the Mudanjiang City intermediate people’s court.
During this time, his family and other “interested parties” in the case, such as those with claims on the confiscated assets, could decide whether to attend the trial, said the full-page notice in the People’s Court Daily, the official newspaper of the national judicial system.
