SHENYANG - A land resource official was sentenced to death on Monday for taking bribes and embezzlement worth 60 million yuan ($8.9 million), said a local court Tuesday.

The Intermediate People's Court in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, handed down the sentence to Luo Yaping, former director of the Land Resources Bureau of Shuncheng district of Fushun city.

The 50-year-old woman, who could not specify how she had obtained her massive fortune, said she would appeal.

The former saleswoman became a planning official in Shuncheng district in 1997. She was promoted to director of the land resources bureau in 2006.

Locals called Luo "the most corrupted woman official", after she was detained and exposed for taking bribes from property developers in April 2008.

Hou Xiaofeng, a researcher with the Liaoning Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, said corrupt land officials had helped rise housing prices in China by colluding with real estate developers to drive up prices.