Five police officers were sentenced on Monday to serve from three to seven and a half years in prison for protecting illegal casinos and taking large bribes in Shaoguan, a city in the northern part of Guangdong province.

Xu Weiwu, former deputy director of Shaoguan's Zhenjiang district bureau of public security, was sentenced to seven years in prison for protecting operators of secret casinos in Shaoguan's Zhenjiang district.

That verdict was handed down by Shaoguan's Wujiang District People's Court on Monday.

Xu was accused of accepting 2.26 million yuan ($354,000) in bribes from operators of secret casinos from April 2006 to February 2012.

Meanwhile, the court confiscated 400,000 yuan worth of personal property that Xu had acquired illegally when he was in office.

The court said Xu's punishment was reduced because his family had returned the money he had embezzled.

After accepting bribes from operators of secret casinos in recent years, Xu would either purposely avoid investigating reports of underground gambling in the district or, if he had received many reports of illegal gambling, would only give the appearance of conducting a serious investigation.

The four other police officers involved in the case were also sentenced to serve from three to seven and a half years in prison for taking bribes and protecting underground casinos and pornographic venues.

Yu Junjun, former director of the No 4 brigade of social security under Shaoguan's bureau of public security, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. Yu was convicted of accepting more than 1.42 million yuan in bribes and accepting 400,000 yuan worth of stock shares from local bars, hotels and sauna houses from November of 2007 to February 2012.

Lin Shaobin, former director of the No 2 brigade of social security under Zhenjiang district's bureau of public security, was sentenced to five and half years in prison.

Zhou Chumian, former director criminal of investigation under Wujiang district's bureau of public security, was sentenced to five years behind bars and Wang Wencheng, former director of Xilian's police substation in Wujiang district, was sentenced to three years in prison.