Film probe uncovers kickback scheme
By Li Qian |
July 31, 2012, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A CORRUPTION investigation into two officials is said to have uncovered a kickback scheme which inflated the cost of a widely panned video made for China's Ministry of Railways.
The revelation has again put renowned Chinese film director Zhang Yimou at the center of the storm of criticism as he is said to have benefited from the huge 18.5 million yuan investment in the project.
The Beijing New Times Film Cultural Development Co Ltd, acting as a middleman between the ministry and Zhang, paid Zhang 2.5 million yuan and another 1.178 million yuan in tax, an anonymous company employee told the Economic Information Daily yesterday.
The five-minute video, "Chinese Railways," cost just under 7 million yuan and the other 11.5 million yuan went to corrupt officials and Zhang, the employee told the newspaper.
An initial probe into the case showed that the ministry's audio and video department gave more than 14 million yuan to New Times instead of the contracted 18.5 million yuan, leaving 4 million yuan missing, Xinhua news agency reported.
However, it has not yet been determined whether the missing money was taken by New Times employees or ministry staff.
The company is said to have won the project without going through a public bidding process because it promised it could persuade Zhang to film the video, an unnamed official with the ministry's publicity department told the newspaper.
"We will sure file a lawsuit against the company," the official said, adding that the ministry would also launch an investigation into corrupt officials.
According to an agreement between the ministry and the company, Zhang was entrusted to film and edit the video. The finished video includes the credit "Zhang Yimou Works."
However, its contract with Zhang showed the director had just offered suggestions and specifically banned the company from using his name on the video, the paper said.
Zhang told the paper that he didn't know about the huge investment until the video gained notoriety. He said he just offered suggestions in the project's early stages and only commented on the first version.
He said that although he didn't know that the project had not gone through a public bidding process, he still felt responsible and welcomed any investigation.
The video was played at the opening of the 7th World Congress on High-Speed Rail in Beijing in December 2010 as well as in high-speed trains. It showed China's railway development by simply showing running trains.
People who saw it called it boring and wondered how so much money could have been spent on such a poor video.
That led to suspicion of violations or corruption, and triggered an investigation early this month into Chen Yihan, deputy general secretary of the ministry's literal and arts department, and her husband Liu Ruiyang, deputy director of the vehicle department. Chen used to work at the ministry's publicity department.
Inspectors seized more than 10 million yuan in cash and at least nine property ownership certificates from their home, an anonymous insider said.
On the same day, they discovered "a large number of" bank deposit books and shopping cards in Liu's office.
The revelation has again put renowned Chinese film director Zhang Yimou at the center of the storm of criticism as he is said to have benefited from the huge 18.5 million yuan investment in the project.
The Beijing New Times Film Cultural Development Co Ltd, acting as a middleman between the ministry and Zhang, paid Zhang 2.5 million yuan and another 1.178 million yuan in tax, an anonymous company employee told the Economic Information Daily yesterday.
The five-minute video, "Chinese Railways," cost just under 7 million yuan and the other 11.5 million yuan went to corrupt officials and Zhang, the employee told the newspaper.
An initial probe into the case showed that the ministry's audio and video department gave more than 14 million yuan to New Times instead of the contracted 18.5 million yuan, leaving 4 million yuan missing, Xinhua news agency reported.
However, it has not yet been determined whether the missing money was taken by New Times employees or ministry staff.
The company is said to have won the project without going through a public bidding process because it promised it could persuade Zhang to film the video, an unnamed official with the ministry's publicity department told the newspaper.
"We will sure file a lawsuit against the company," the official said, adding that the ministry would also launch an investigation into corrupt officials.
According to an agreement between the ministry and the company, Zhang was entrusted to film and edit the video. The finished video includes the credit "Zhang Yimou Works."
However, its contract with Zhang showed the director had just offered suggestions and specifically banned the company from using his name on the video, the paper said.
Zhang told the paper that he didn't know about the huge investment until the video gained notoriety. He said he just offered suggestions in the project's early stages and only commented on the first version.
He said that although he didn't know that the project had not gone through a public bidding process, he still felt responsible and welcomed any investigation.
The video was played at the opening of the 7th World Congress on High-Speed Rail in Beijing in December 2010 as well as in high-speed trains. It showed China's railway development by simply showing running trains.
People who saw it called it boring and wondered how so much money could have been spent on such a poor video.
That led to suspicion of violations or corruption, and triggered an investigation early this month into Chen Yihan, deputy general secretary of the ministry's literal and arts department, and her husband Liu Ruiyang, deputy director of the vehicle department. Chen used to work at the ministry's publicity department.
Inspectors seized more than 10 million yuan in cash and at least nine property ownership certificates from their home, an anonymous insider said.
On the same day, they discovered "a large number of" bank deposit books and shopping cards in Liu's office.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
