Promotional material for Chinese hit TV drama In the Name of People Photo: IC

A former city official whose total assets surpassed 300 million yuan ($43.5 million), including 46 houses across the country, was sentenced to 15 years in jail by a court in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. 

Yang Xin, 69, a former mayor of Qiqihar and Daqing, Heilongjiang, was sentenced to 15 years in jail and fined 5 million yuan for accepting bribes and holding a huge amount of undeclared property, thepaper.cn reported Tuesday.

The Mudanjiang Intermediate People's Court of Heilongjiang said that Yang had total assets of more than 300 million yuan, including 46 houses - 21 in South China's Guangdong Province and six in Beijing. 

From 1995-2013, Yang accepted bribes worth about 15 million yuan when serving in  Daqing and Qiqihar governments. The court also said that Yang failed to account for about 61 million yuan in property. 

The investigation into Yang started in September 2014. He was expelled from the Communist Party of China in November 2015, thepaper.cn reported.

His wife, Li Lihua, was sentenced to two years in jail with two-year probation in November 2017, for shielding or concealing illegal gains. Li's brother was sentenced 19 months in jail for offering bribes.