China's Hengfeng Bank ex-chairman Cai sentenced to death with two-year reprieve

BEIJING, Nov 6 (Reuters) - A Chinese court sentenced on Friday the former chairman of Hengfeng Bank, Cai Guohua, to death with two-year reprieve after convicting him of abuse of power, corruption, embezzlement, receiving bribes and illegal loans, the court said.

If Cai commits no further crime over the next two years, his sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment, the Dongying City Intermediate People's Court of Shandong Province said in a statement on its Weibo social media platform.

Last year, Cai's predecessor Jiang Yunxi was also found guilty of corruption and sentenced to death with two-year reprieve.

Hengfeng bank, based in Shandong province, has been undergoing restructuring since 2017 when the banking and insurance regulatory watchdog appointed its staff to head up the lender due to management and liquidity issues.

In January, the bank received 100 billion yuan in strategic investment through a share sale to state and foreign investors. (Reporting by Zhang Yan, Ryan Woo in Beijing Editing by Robert Birsel)