A cadre was sentenced to 11 years in prison for embezzling public funds totaling 2.6 million yuan ($420,000) just so he could play an online game in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Jinling Evening News reported.

Since 2003, the cadre, surnamed Zhu, had been working as a deputy director and accountant at a business center run by a street community in Nanjing. His gaming addiction began in 2005 which not only influenced him to spend his family savings, but also caused him to divorce his wife in 2010, the newspaper said.

His failed marriage didn't end his obsession with the online game. From 2006 to 2012, he often appropriated funds from the business center to purchase different weapon configurations to upgrade his personal level within his game account. And he also sometimes visited other cities to exchange ideas with fellow players.

In October 2012, Zhu turned himself in at the local people's procuratorate where he was later sentenced to 11 years in prison.