Three officials in a county in Henan province were dismissed from their posts on Wednesday, nearly three years after a local court convicted them for abuse of power.

In 2007, Hou Shaojun, deputy director of the bureau of housing and urban-rural development in Luoning county, Song Peng, another official with the bureau, and Niu Hongjun, an official with the department that manages local property rights for real estate projects, abused their power to allow a real estate developer — who did not go through the necessary procedures — to build and sell residential projects in the county.

A local court’s verdict in 2010 ruled that the three officials had abused their power. However, the officials remained in their posts after the verdict.

He Hongchao, a senior discipline inspection official with Hou’s bureau, was quoted as saying by Xinhua News Agency that he just took the current position and did not receive any information about the officials’ punishment.

"We worked with the county’s disciplinary authority only after the case was reported by media on May 20,” said He.