A Chinese court on Friday sentenced Shi Yongxin, the former abbot of the Shaolin Temple, to 24 years in prison and fined him 3.5 million yuan for embezzlement and bribery.
The Xinxiang Intermediate People’s Court in central Henan province found that Shi Yongxin, whose birth name is Liu Yingcheng, had embezzled more than 131 million yuan between 2003 and 2025.
The court said he appropriated 151 million yuan for his own use from 2012 to 2022 and took bribes totalling 11.63 million yuan since 2006 to help others win contracts for temple construction and related operations.
Shi appeared in a public trial on Monday. The verdict was announced on Friday, after which he said he would not appeal. He had previously admitted his guilt.
The 1,500-year-old Shaolin Temple is located on a mountain range in Dengfeng, Henan.
