Ling Jihua, a close associate of former Chinese president Hu Jintao, has been jailed for life for corruption, the state-run Xinhua news agency said on Monday.
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Announcing the investigation into Mr Ling in December 2014, the Communist Party said the case caused major damage to its image.
He pleaded guilty June 7 during a one-day trial that was held in secret because the charges involved state secrets, said the court, which handed down a life sentence in a similar case a year ago against former security czar Zhou Yongkang, a retired member of the Politburo’s supreme Standing Committee.
He took bribes worth almost $11.6 million, Xinhua reports.
He was formally charged in May, having previously been stripped of his post as vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Ling was accused of trying to cover up the scandal.
Critics say that a lack of transparency around the crackdown means it has been an opportunity for Xi to eliminate political enemies.
His abuse of power caused “huge losses to public property and the interests of the state and the people” and had “especially vile social impact”, it said.
It also cited media as saying that Ling, who hails from China’s coal-rich northern province of Shanxi, led the so-called Shanxi Gang.
Another brother, Ling Wancheng, has fled to the United States, a Chinese anti-graft official confirmed in January, adding Beijing was “in touch” with Washington about his case.
He also was found guilty of illegally obtaining a large amount of state secrets and using his official position to help others get promoted and acquire houses.
He had been demoted in September 2012 from a ministerial-level job, months after his son was killed in a crash involving a luxury sports vehicle.
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Questions were asked about how Ling could afford a luxury vehicle worth several hundred thousand dollars.
