Ministerial-level officials in corruption probes
By Yang Jian |
March 12, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Seven ministerial-level officials were investigated for suspected embezzlement or bribery in China last year, the country's procurator-general said yesterday.
"Prosecutors nationwide investigated a total of 2,524 officials above county head-level, with 198 at prefectural level and seven at provincial or ministerial level," Cao Jianming, China's procurator-general, said in a work report at the annual session of the National People's Congress.
The most famous case was that of former Railway Minister Liu Zhijun, who was sacked last February and then detained amid a graft probe that involved a series of railway projects. The State Council has said Liu should also be held responsible for the bullet train crash last July that killed 40 people in the eastern city of Wenzhou.
In another case, Tian Xueren, former executive vice governor of Jilin Province in northeast China, was under investigation late last year for alleged violations.
Others include Wu Zhiming, former secretary general of the government of Jiangxi Province and Huang Sheng, deputy governor of Shandong Province. Both were sacked and investigated for corruption. Online posts claimed Huang took bribes of US$9 billion, kept 46 mistresses and owned 46 properties.
In January, Zhou Zhenhong, chief of the United Front Work Department of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, was removed from his post for serious violations of Party discipline.
"The efforts of prosecutors were intensified last year to crack down on crimes of offering bribes, prosecuting 4,217 bribers, a year-on-year increase of 6.2 percent," Cao said.
He said prosecutors took a hard line on civil servants who abused their power for personal gain or who took bribes, investigating 7,366 people under administrative law and 2,395 in the judiciary system.
The country's courts convicted 29,000 people for embezzlement, bribery and malfeasance last year, "further deepening the anti-corruption drive," said Wang Shengjun, chief justice of the Supreme People's Court.
International judicial cooperation was enhanced as well, Cao said, retrieving a total of 7.79 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) of illicit assets and leading to the arrest of 1,631 people suspected of work-related crimes.
Cao said prosecutors would crack down severely on work-related crimes by officials, crimes seriously violating people's economic, personal and democratic rights, as well as cases involving construction projects, real-estate development, environment pollution and food safety.
Some 176 procurators were punished for violating laws and regulations in 2011, the procurator-general said. Of those punished, 20 were under investigation for criminal charges.
The Supreme Court sentenced 320 people for making or using swill oil or "lean meat powder" in some 278 food safety cases across the country last year.
Prosecutors approved the arrest of 2,012 people for making or selling poisonous food or counterfeit drugs and some 202 government officials punished for their part in cases involving lean meat powder and artificial beef, Cao said.
Liu Jinchun, ex-department chief of the Huojia County agriculture and husbandry bureau in Henan Province, was jailed for seven years for forging test reports and siphoning off 70,000 yuan from subsidies to pig raisers to ignore the use of a banned drug.
Police cracked 135 swill oil production rings since last August, arresting around 800 people.
Also prosecuted were 6,870 people in intellectual property rights cases, and 17,725 for serious pollution and failing to protect energy and resources.
"Prosecutors nationwide investigated a total of 2,524 officials above county head-level, with 198 at prefectural level and seven at provincial or ministerial level," Cao Jianming, China's procurator-general, said in a work report at the annual session of the National People's Congress.
The most famous case was that of former Railway Minister Liu Zhijun, who was sacked last February and then detained amid a graft probe that involved a series of railway projects. The State Council has said Liu should also be held responsible for the bullet train crash last July that killed 40 people in the eastern city of Wenzhou.
In another case, Tian Xueren, former executive vice governor of Jilin Province in northeast China, was under investigation late last year for alleged violations.
Others include Wu Zhiming, former secretary general of the government of Jiangxi Province and Huang Sheng, deputy governor of Shandong Province. Both were sacked and investigated for corruption. Online posts claimed Huang took bribes of US$9 billion, kept 46 mistresses and owned 46 properties.
In January, Zhou Zhenhong, chief of the United Front Work Department of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, was removed from his post for serious violations of Party discipline.
"The efforts of prosecutors were intensified last year to crack down on crimes of offering bribes, prosecuting 4,217 bribers, a year-on-year increase of 6.2 percent," Cao said.
He said prosecutors took a hard line on civil servants who abused their power for personal gain or who took bribes, investigating 7,366 people under administrative law and 2,395 in the judiciary system.
The country's courts convicted 29,000 people for embezzlement, bribery and malfeasance last year, "further deepening the anti-corruption drive," said Wang Shengjun, chief justice of the Supreme People's Court.
International judicial cooperation was enhanced as well, Cao said, retrieving a total of 7.79 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) of illicit assets and leading to the arrest of 1,631 people suspected of work-related crimes.
Cao said prosecutors would crack down severely on work-related crimes by officials, crimes seriously violating people's economic, personal and democratic rights, as well as cases involving construction projects, real-estate development, environment pollution and food safety.
Some 176 procurators were punished for violating laws and regulations in 2011, the procurator-general said. Of those punished, 20 were under investigation for criminal charges.
The Supreme Court sentenced 320 people for making or using swill oil or "lean meat powder" in some 278 food safety cases across the country last year.
Prosecutors approved the arrest of 2,012 people for making or selling poisonous food or counterfeit drugs and some 202 government officials punished for their part in cases involving lean meat powder and artificial beef, Cao said.
Liu Jinchun, ex-department chief of the Huojia County agriculture and husbandry bureau in Henan Province, was jailed for seven years for forging test reports and siphoning off 70,000 yuan from subsidies to pig raisers to ignore the use of a banned drug.
Police cracked 135 swill oil production rings since last August, arresting around 800 people.
Also prosecuted were 6,870 people in intellectual property rights cases, and 17,725 for serious pollution and failing to protect energy and resources.
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