Xu Fangming, former director of the finance department of
China's Ministry of Finance, was sentenced to life imprisonment on
Friday for taking bribes.
The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court found that Xu took
more than 2.14 million yuan (about US$267,500) in bribes between
1997 and 2000.
According to the court, in 1997, Xu helped the head of an
investment consultancy firm, Han Bing, to win a contract worth more
than 400 million yuan (US$50 million) for a car leasing business
from the Agricultural Development Bank of China. Han was awarded
more than 7 million yuan (US$875,000) in commission from the
leasing firm.
In 1998, Xu also helped Han to sell office space to the Shenzhen
branch of the Agricultural Development Bank of China for which Han
was paid more than 2 million yuan (US$250,000).
In return for the two deals, Han gave Xu 1.09 million yuan
(US$25,000 paid in RMB and the rest paid in the greenback) in four
installments.
According to the court, Xu also accepted over 1 million yuan
(US$128,000) in bribes in three installments from another company
to help it seek gains in 1999 and 2000.
The court said he still had the right to appeal.
As China intensifies anti-corruption efforts, a quite few high
government officials have been removed from office for corruption
and brought to court.
In earlier September, China made public 20 severe cases of
bribery in the construction sector, all involving government
employees in charge of urban planning, project approval and
evaluation of contractors' financial assessments.
By the end of July, China had punished a total of 416 civil
servants amid a national move against commercial bribery that began
in the middle of last year.
Wu Guanzheng, Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC)
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, emphasizes enhancing
fighting corruption at its source in his article to be published
today.
"The crackdown on corruption cases has to be maintained, but
efforts also need to be made to build an effective corruption
prevention and control mechanism," says Wu, who is also a member of
the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central
Committee.
Wu Guanzheng Emphasizes Fighting Corruption at Its
Source
(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2006)