A former deputy director of the National Energy Administration (NEA) told a Beijing court he was tortured into admitting to having received bribes, media reported Wednesday.

Xu Yongsheng, who was removed from his post in 2014, denied almost all the charges against him during his trial at the No.1 Intermediate People's Court in Beijing on Tuesday, claiming that his confessions were made against his will "when investigators implied something could happen to his wife and son," news site caixin.com reported.

In 2014, prosecutors accused him of taking bribes worth 5.61 million yuan ($858,300) when he was head of the NEA's electricity department in 2008. He was promoted to NEA deputy director in 2012.

He denied knowing the people prosecutors had named, highlighting contradictions in witness testimonies. He also demanded to be given a polygraph test. Xu only admitted that he accepted a massage armchair, caixin.com reported, citing anonymous sources who attended the trial. The sources added that Xu even wept several times.