China has sentenced the former vice chief of its state-run
lottery to 10 and a half years in prison for taking bribes, a court
statement said Thursday.
Zhang Weihua, 44, the former vice director and legal
representative of China's Sports Lottery Administration Center,
accepted US$20,000 and a mobile phone worth 7,480 yuan (around
US$1,000) from an unlicensed company between September 2003 and
2004 to supply imported paper for lottery tickets.
The company, the Beijing-based Nanhaiyangguang Science and
Technology Limited, was later granted the supply contract by Liu
Feng, an official in charge of lottery ticket printing.
Liu was found guilty by the First Intermediate People's Court of
Beijing City of accepting US$10,000 and 10,000 yuan (US$1,357) from
the company and was jailed for four years.
According to the Beijing Evening News, Zhang claimed
that he received a moon cake box with US$10,000 inside from the
company but returned it soon after he found out.
However, an unnamed witness who gave the moon cake box to Zhang
in person said there was 20,000 U.S. dollars and a mobile phone
inside, the newspaper said.
Zhang and Li reportedly returned the bribes in 2005, more than a
year after they had accepted them, out of fear that they would be
found out during the annual government audit.
Zhang has appealed the ruling but the court statement did not
say whether Liu has done the same.
The China Welfare Lottery Administrative Center and the Sports
Lottery Administrative Center of China General Administration of
Sport are the only two legitimate lottery vendors in China and they
are both state-run.
China launched its first lottery in June 1987. Lottery ticket
sales are one of the major sources of funds for building community
sports facilities and financing the country's social welfare
programs.
(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2007)