A file photo of Xia Keming(R1) and his three companions (Photo source: people.cn)

Former Beijing multimillionaire Xia Keming and his three companions were executed on Tuesday for killing eight people between 1999 and 2007, the Beijing Times observed on Wednesday.

Xia once served as a civil servant in Beijing. He was sentenced in 1988 to three years in prison for the illegal dealing of train tickets. After being released, Xia started a business in Shenzhen, and also owned 19 percent of shares in a Beijing-based company valued at more than 100 million yuan ($16 million).

The murder spree began when Xia asked his brother Xia Kezhi and two of his ex-cellmates to kill a business partner surnamed Liu.

In the following eight years, the four killed seven other people, including Xia Keming's business partners, mistress and acquaintances.

To cover up their crimes, the gang bribed officials with cash, cars, luxury watches and expensive rosewood furniture.

The four were seized by police on March 2007. The defendants were found guilty on charges of manslaughter, theft, illegally owning guns, deliberately destroying evidence, and offering bribes.