China Corruption Blotter (August 1, 2012)

Zhongshan City’s Linggang Village (Guangdong Province) director Chen Kefu was recently charged by the Zhongshan People’s Procuratorate for corruption totaling $192,483. Chen was said to have abused his power by appropriating private land from villagers and transferring it to those who paid him bribes. http://www.gdcct.gov.cn/politics/probity/201207/t20120717_706415.html

Beijing Botanical Garden cashier Huang Hao was last week given 15 years for embezzling $735,503 by paying salaries to six wholly made-up staff members. Huang used the money to buy three vehicles (Land Rover, Volkswagen Golf, and Mini Cooper), a branded watch, and trips and meals for his friends. http://www.chinataiwan.org/xwzx/PoliticsNews/201207/t20120721_2842806.htm

Former China State Food and Drug Administration deputy director Zhang Jingli was last week sentenced to 17 years in prison. Zhang was found guilty of three crimes: accepting $183,046 in bribes; illegally printing and selling 43,000 copies of a health book called Shoushi Buyuan (“Nourishment in the world of longevity”); and planning a massive  letter-writing campaign falsely accusing his superior of corruption. http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2012-07-26/025924845036.shtml

The village committee head of Changle Village under Leyuan Toan (Shaoguan City’s Zhenjiang District), identified only as He, is currently facing corruption charges for his role in the illegal seizure of a 16,710-square-meter piece of state-owned land worth more than $1.56 million. According to the prosecutors, He pocketed more than $104,822 for forging documents to help fellow official He Jinqing obtain the land. The latter had already been sentenced to 20 years in a separate hearing. http://news.sina.com.cn/s/2012-07-24/073924832539.shtml

Two food safety officials in Yiwu City (Zhejiang Province) have been prosecuted for taking more than  $94,140 in bribes from vendors who sold pork products made from ill and dead pigs. Gong Jinlong, a director of Yiwu Food Co., and his cousin Gong Yihua, a local animal quarantine official, were charged with fabricating nearly 30 certificates of origin and causing 500 unfit pigs to enter the market. It is the first case of officials being prosecuted for dereliction of duty in food safety in Yiwu. http://www.whatsonningbo.com/news-9536-2-food-safety-officials-in-zhejiang-charged-with-bribery-in-ill-pork-case.html

Beijing Fengtai District’s Yonghe Zhuang Village Committee Head Su Yiqing was last week prosecuted for his part in pocketing $1.35 million in relocation compensation funds. According to Su, he took part in the fraud scheme in order to buy a Land Rover to bribe his superior Du Pingxun. Du was also charged in the same trial. http://roll.sohu.com/20120725/n348987062.shtml

_____________

Chua Guan Cheong is a senior journalist with ethiXbase.com. He can be contacted here.