Beijing, April 27: China’s former Deputy Finance Minister Zhu Zhigang, who was stripped off his post after a corruption probe found he had accepted bribes worth USD 1.09 million, appeared in a court to stand his graft trial.
Zhu, one of the 12 high-ranking officials removed from their posts in the past two years after being investigated for corruption, has been accused of taking undue advantage of his position.
Prosecutors in Xinyang of Central China’s Henan province alleged that Zhu helped others to secure profits, as well as to obtain loans and public appointments by taking advantage of his posts as Assistant Finance Minister and later as Deputy Finance between January 2000 to March 2008.
In return, he accepted bribes in money and goods worth about USD 1.09 million, Xinhua quoted prosecutors as saying.
No ruling was issued yesterday at the Xinyang Intermediate People’s Court, where the hearing began. The court was made open to public.
According to earlier reports by Caijing Magazine, one of China’s leading financial and business magazines, Zhu was placed under investigation after his relatives were discovered buying property at an extremely low price.
He was taken away for investigation in October 2008 and was stripped of his membership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) last June for “severe violation of disciplines and law”.
Zhu had worked as deputy director of Daxing county finance and tax bureau, deputy head of Daxing county government and deputy chief of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.
According to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, four officials at provincial or ministerial level were at the centre of corruption investigations in 2008 and eight in 2009.
Among them are Huang Songyou, former vice-president of the Supreme People’s Court, and Wang Yi, former vice-president of the State-run China Development Bank.
Wang Yi was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on April 15 for accepting nearly 12 million yuan (USD 1.8 million) in bribes.
Huang Songyou, the former vice-president of the Supreme People’s Court, was sentenced to life in jail in March for taking more than 3.9 million yuan (USD 574,000) in bribes between 2005 and 2008.
In total, 2,670 officials above county level were investigated last year for embezzlement, bribery, dereliction of duty and other work-related crimes, the report said.
–PTI