A Beijing man admitted in court Wednesday to defrauding a city hospital of 172,000 yuan ($27,000), a newspaper said.

Liao Dan, 41, was accused of using forged Beijing Hospital charge notes from November 2007 to September 2011 to keep his wife on dialysis, The Beijing News reported.

He was arrested on Feb 21 and released on bail on March 8.

Liao acknowledged during his hour-long trial on Wednesday that he couldn't afford his wife's dialysis treatment, so he found someone to forge the charge seal of the hospital. The sobbing Liao said he did it only to "keep his wife alive for a while" and he "had no other choice", the report said.

The prosecutor suggested that Liao be sentenced to three to 10 years in prison, the report said. Liao said he has no problem with the sentence recommendation.

The judge told Liao that he could return home and take care of his wife, but he must promise to return to court when summoned, the report said.