Liu’s downfall sparked by mistress
Print Edition
LIU Tienan, ex-deputy chief of China’s top economic planning body, was sentenced to life imprisonment for bribery by a court in north China’s Hebei Province yesterday.
The 60-year-old accepted bribes of 35.58 million yuan (US$5.8 million) between 2002 and 2012, personally or through his son Liu Decheng, the Langfang City Intermediate People’s Court said.
He exploited his position at the National Development and Reform Commission to secure profits for companies and individuals, the court said.
Liu was granted a lenient sentence because he confessed most of his crimes and showed remorse at his trial in September and the money amassed by the pair had been returned, the court said.
When asked for his plea, Liu said he had accepted his guilt and would accept any punishment, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Faced with the facts, I have been asking myself every time I read the indictment, is this me? How did I end up like this?” said a tearful Liu, according to court transcripts posted on one of the court’s official social media accounts in September.
“Each morning, I wonder where I am and how I have ended up in this state,” said Liu, adding that he had also been a bad influence on his son.
The court found that most of the bribes were linked to his 29-year-old son, who is currently in detention awaiting trial.
He acted as a middleman to get projects approved by his father and was paid so-called “thank you fees” of nearly 7.5 million yuan, the court found.
Between 2003 and 2012, Liu Tienan helped the Guangzhou Automobile Group secure several projects. In return, Zhang Fangyou, the group’s chairman, was told to recruit Liu Decheng.
Zhang created a position for the son at a subsidiary in Guangzhou in 2007. However, by December 2012, Liu Decheng had not worked there a single day despite being paid a salary that totalled 1.21 million yuan.
In 2006, Liu Tienan had asked Qiu Jianlin, an executive at chemical producer Hengyi Group Co, to “teach his son business” when he was helping the company with the approval process for several projects.
Qiu spent a million yuan in setting up a company for Liu Decheng, a company said to have made a profit of nearly 8.25 million yuan though it never started trading.
Qiu also gave Liu Decheng a villa in Beijing and a Porsche, worth a combined 15.5 million yuan, the court found.
At his trial in September, Liu Tienan blamed himself for having overindulged his son. “I ruined my son,” he said. “I should take full responsibility for his guilt because it was me who led him down this guilty road.”
In an interview, Li Fabao, Liu Tienan’s lawyer, told the 21st Business Herald: “Liu didn’t abuse his power for personal gain but for the sake of his son. He had just thought to let his business friends to teach his son how to do business.”
He also told the People’s Daily website: “Liu Tienan said he lived a plain life. He got up to work every day at 7am and got back home around 11pm. He had meals in the canteen and didn’t buy new clothes.”
He said Liu didn’t have expensive habits and that was why he was able to return the money.
Allegations against the official emerged in December 2012, when Luo Changping, then deputy editor-in-chief of Caijing Magazine, accused him of falsifying academic credentials and helping arrange US$200 million in bank loans for a businessman, Ni Ritao.
Luo said in his Sina Weibo microblog that most of the details had come from Liu’s mistress, identified as Xu. The pair had met in Tokyo where Liu worked as an economic attache and
Xu was studying for a PhD degree. Luo alleged in his whistleblowing postings that Xu received death threats after they fell out.
Liu’s wife and son held shares in Ni’s company, and Ni wired “huge amounts of money” into foreign currency accounts held by the son “multiple times,” Luo said.
In May 2013, Liu Tienan was sacked for serious disciplinary violations. Three months later he was expelled from the Party and removed from public office.
Liu Tienan is one of the highest-profile officials to be prosecuted for corruption since President Xi Jinping launched an anti-graft campaign in late 2012 when he took over as Party chief.
Others include Zhang Shuguang, former head of the railway ministry’s transport bureau. He was sentenced to death with two years’ reprieve in October for taking bribes worth more than 47 million yuan.
Liu Zhijun, the former railways minister, was given a suspended death sentence in July for taking 64.6 million yuan in bribes.
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