80 officials sacked for ‘bribing’ corrupt chief
Print Edition
ALMOST 80 officials in Xiaoxian County, east China’s Anhui Province, have been sacked for sending gifts to the county’s former chief, who earlier this year began a life sentence for corruption.
Wu Baoliang, 54, was found guilty of taking bribes of almost 19 million yuan (US$3.1 million) over a period of about nine years prior to his dismissal in 2012, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
In that time, the official received more than 1,000 gifts from almost 300 people, more than half of whom worked in public office, prosecutors said.
The Xinhua report, however, did not explain why almost 80 people had been sacked, while more than 200 had not.
Among those dismissed were the top officials of the county’s legislative body, political advisory body, and senior officials in the fields of public security, finance, traffic and education, the report said.
Several of them, like former police chief Shan Yanfa, were also charged with taking bribes, prosecutors said.
While most of the gifts were relatively small, people used them to curry favor with Wu in the hope he might help them in their careers. Many of those punished offered multiple gifts over many years, the prosecutors said.
An unnamed official said he sent gifts to Wu because he felt it was expected of him.
“In Xiaoxian, everyone sent him gifts. It wouldn’t have been good if I hadn’t done the same,” he said.
Sending gifts to Wu during annual festivals and holidays was an open secret in Xiaoxian, with many officials clubbing together to buy more expensive items, the report said.
On numerous occasions, the cost of the gifts was covered by public funds, it said.
Wu was quoted as saying earlier that he had come to expect gifts from his subordinates.
“When I was the county’s Party chief, many people would give me money, using the excuse that they would brief me about their work,” he said.
Wu was removed from his post in July 2012. In February of this year he was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Hefei Intermediate People’s Court.
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