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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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Homes for poor draw was a fraud
By Jane Chen |
October 17, 2009, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A HOUSING official in central China's Hubei Province has admitted his part in fraudulent schemes involving the sale of government-backed cheap homes by issuing ineligible residents with qualification certificates.
Zhang Xiaobo, an official with Qiaokou District Housing Administrative Bureau in Wuhan City, capital of Hubei Province, went on trial yesterday, Xinhua news agency reported.
A total of 5,141 qualified low-income families took part in a draw on June 12 organized by the city government for cheap housing projects. Winners were able to buy homes at prices lower than market rate.
But suspicions were aroused when six of the 124 winners had consecutive application numbers, which mathematicians said was almost impossible.
And suspicions grew when it was found that the six winners had their addresses moved to Qiaokou District from other areas of the city just days ahead of the draw, which, according to insiders, could have been in a bid to conceal their real addresses as well as their ownership of existing homes -- which would then disqualify them from taking part in the cheap homes scheme.
A government investigation was launched and it was discovered that officials in the police, residence management departments and the neighborhood committee had been involved in the scandal. Some had conspired with local housing broking agents to fake the qualification documents for some applicants.
Five officials, including Zhu Zhiqiang, vice director of the Wuhan State Land and Housing Administrative Bureau, have been sacked.
Investigations also found the application information submitted by the six winning applicants to be fake, including their employment and marital status, according to Leng Shande, an official with Wuhan Housing Security Management Center.
The center has disqualified the six from benefiting from the cheap homes scheme.
Zhang Xiaobo, an official with Qiaokou District Housing Administrative Bureau in Wuhan City, capital of Hubei Province, went on trial yesterday, Xinhua news agency reported.
A total of 5,141 qualified low-income families took part in a draw on June 12 organized by the city government for cheap housing projects. Winners were able to buy homes at prices lower than market rate.
But suspicions were aroused when six of the 124 winners had consecutive application numbers, which mathematicians said was almost impossible.
And suspicions grew when it was found that the six winners had their addresses moved to Qiaokou District from other areas of the city just days ahead of the draw, which, according to insiders, could have been in a bid to conceal their real addresses as well as their ownership of existing homes -- which would then disqualify them from taking part in the cheap homes scheme.
A government investigation was launched and it was discovered that officials in the police, residence management departments and the neighborhood committee had been involved in the scandal. Some had conspired with local housing broking agents to fake the qualification documents for some applicants.
Five officials, including Zhu Zhiqiang, vice director of the Wuhan State Land and Housing Administrative Bureau, have been sacked.
Investigations also found the application information submitted by the six winning applicants to be fake, including their employment and marital status, according to Leng Shande, an official with Wuhan Housing Security Management Center.
The center has disqualified the six from benefiting from the cheap homes scheme.
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