Four officials from Shanghai, including a former chairman of a
football club, have been expelled from the Communist Party of China
(CPC) and will now face criminal charges in the latest corruption
scandal to be exposed in the city.
A document released by the Shanghai Municipal Commission for
Discipline Inspection of the CPC announced that Yin Guoyuan, former
deputy director of the Shanghai housing, land and resources
administration, had abused his position to pursue interests on the
behalf of others and had accepted bribes during his tenure.
The document said Yin had accepted bribes in the form of cash,
shares, property and cars and said the value of the bribes was
"very large", without giving the specific details.
Chen Jinxian, head of Shanghai's Changning District, Ling
Baoheng, head of the Shanghai Municipal State Assets Commission and
Yu Zhifei, deputy general manager of Shanghai International Circuit
Co. Ltd and chairman of Shanghai Shenhua Soccer Club, were the
other officials expelled.
Chen was found to have abused his position to seek gains for
others and accepted bribes while serving as the deputy Party
secretary and the administrative chief of Changning District.
Ling Baoheng accepted bribes during his tenure as the chief of
the Shanghai Municipal State Assets Commission and his three
previous official posts.
Yu Zhifei, who also served as general manager of Shang
International Circuit Development Co. Ltd, is said to have taken
advantage of being chairman of the board of Shanghai Shenhua Soccer
Club. He is said to have embezzled funds from the soccer club, and
another international trade company affiliated to the club, to pay
off personal debts and buy a house.
(Xinhua News Agency May 21, 2007)