a local court in central China's Hunan Province upheld its 2005 death sentence against a former official who was convicted of graft and misappropriating public funds

a local court in central China's Hunan Province upheld its 2005 death sentence against a former official who was convicted of graft and misappropriating public funds, a court spokesman said. The final verdict against Li Shubiao, former head of the Administrative Center for Housing Accumulation Funds of Chenzhou, a city in southern Hunan, was announced by the Chenzhou City Intermediate People's Court following a retrial. No date was announced for the execution, which requires Supreme Court approval. Li was first tried in May 2005. Prosecutors charged that Li embezzled more than 118 million yuan (US$17.35 million) in funds allocated to buy homes for 200,000 city workers between 1999 and 2004.