Provinces to abolish bank account systems used by corrupt officials
Print Edition
FOLLOWING the implementation in January of harsher rules concerning the acceptance of bribes and gifts, provincial governments are abolishing systems that have been misused by officials to hide their ill-gotten gains.
Starting from August, Guizhou government joined at least three other provinces in closing special bank accounts that have been used by officials to deposit bribe payments, said Huang Wensheng, deputy secretary of the Guizhou provincial discipline inspection committee.
Officials have used the accounts to hide their wealth, only depositing their dirty money once they believe they are under the radar of graft investigators.
The first “Clean Governance Accounts,” were established in the 1990s as part of efforts to reduce corruption while protecting the privacy of officials. Over a dozen Chinese provincial-level governments have established such accounts.
The provinces of Sichuan, Gansu and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have recently eliminated such accounts.
The accounts are usually managed by the local discipline inspection authorities and banks. The names of the depositor and the sum are not disclosed and the money is turned over to the local treasury.
Zhuang Deshui, a professor at Peking University, explained that the accounts were designed to serve as an outlet for showing remorse. “However, some officials have misused the service over the years,” said Huang.
“Many officials use the account as an umbrella or safe haven. For example, some corrupt officials only deposit bribe money when they are facing investigation,” he said.
Hong Jinzhou, former mayor of Kaili City in Guizhou, stood trial for accepting bribes last year. He was found to have accepted bribes on more than 380 occasions and had attempted to cover up his misdeeds by periodically depositing funds, amounting to over 55 million yuan (US$8.3 million), in the clean governance fund.
“Many people have used the accounts to obstruct investigations,” said Tang Yonghu, a discipline official in Tongren City, Guizhou. “These accounts have created more problems than they have solved.”
The closure of the accounts marks the beginning of an even harsher crackdown on corruption and is in line with Party regulations.
Starting from January this year, a revised regulation issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee has banned officials from accepting gifts, money or gift cards.
According to the Guizhou regulation, officials must turn down any kind of payment that could compromise them.
If accepting the bribe is unavoidable, it must be returned within 30 days, it said.
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