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‘Sister House’ goes on trial for forgery
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A FORMER bank official accused of amassing at least 44 properties under multiple fake identities went on trial charged with forgery yesterday.
Gong Ai’ai, a former vice president of a rural bank in northwest China, appeared at Jingbian County People’s Court in Shaanxi Province, along with three former police officials and an ex-government worker for their role in the wrongdoing.
Gong denied forging, buying and selling ID papers, arguing that all her ID documents were processed by police authorities.
Gong, 49, who is said to have bought at least 44 properties, came to be known as “Sister House” by the Chinese public and sparked demands that officials declare their assets.
The prosecution alleged that Gong, former deputy head of the Shenmu County Rural Commercial Bank in Yulin City, spent 300,000 yuan (US$48,780) to purchase two household registration IDs for herself and her daughter in 2005 in order to buy houses in Beijing.
She is accused of forging two ID cards under the names Gong Xianxia and Gong Ai’ai in 2007 and 2008.
Gong said her Beijing hukou was given to her by developers who sold her apartments. She said she had never done anything illegal with the help of the two hukou.
The two IDs she obtained in Shenmu County were provided by the police, and were not forged, she told the court. She said she had done nothing illegal with these two hukou either.
Gong, a native of Shenmu County, said she did not know it was illegal to possess multiple hukou, a household registration record unique to each Chinese citizen, but apologized for behavior that led to negative social effects.
The prosecution suggested Gong be sentenced to up to three years in jail. A verdict will be announced at a later date.
Police said Gong had four hukou and possessed 44 Beijing properties with a total floor space of 10,543 square meters and a total value of 395 million yuan (US$64.5 million).
When the case surfaced earlier this year, there was shock at the size of Gong’s real estate holdings in a country where the average urban family struggles to afford one apartment.
There was also alarm that Gong was able to acquire multiple identities.
Multiple IDs not only allow access to additional benefits in areas such as housing and education but can also hide assets and circumvent property curbs.
Gong told the court she earned her money mainly through the coal business and loans from friends.
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