An official with the Henan branch of China Grain Reserves Corp has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison and fined 60,000 yuan ($9,900) for dividing State assets of more than 430,000 yuan among employees without permission, local newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The official, surnamed Liu, head of CGRC's regional depot in Xinzheng, Henan province, urged the depot managing company's financial officer, surnamed Shi, to embezzle the funds in the State account using fabricated invoices.

The money was distributed among employees in the name of overtime pay, holiday bonuses and heatstroke prevention subsidies in 2011.