Former official of Chinese state-owned assets regulator stands trial for graft, insider trading

Beijing, Nov 1 (IANS) Luo Yulin, a former Deputy Minister-level official in China's state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, stood trial on Friday, charged with accepting bribes and insider trading.

The case was heard at a court in the city of Qingdao, Shandong Province.

Luo was accused of taking advantage of his various posts to provide assistance to others in matters such as business operations, project contracting and job adjustments, illegally accepting money and gifts worth over 220 million yuan (about 30.9 million US dollars) in return.

He was also accused of explicitly instructing others to engage in certain trading activities after obtaining relevant information that would significantly affect securities trading prices as an insider, before the public release of the information, Xinhua news agency reported.

Prosecutors presented their evidence during the trial, and the defendant and his defence counsel cross-examined that evidence. Both sides gave their respective accounts, according to a court statement.

A verdict will be announced in due course.

--IANS

as/