Shanghai CCP Officials Pocketed 98.6 Billion Yuan, Says Report

Shanghai CCP Officials Pocketed 98.6 Billion Yuan, Says Report
10/26/2006
Updated:
10/26/2006

According to the fourth report by the Shanghai Working Group of Central Commission for Discipline Inspection submitted to Zhongnanhai [1] —“The Investigation in Shanghai”—high ranking officials of Shanghai municipal, district, bureau, and county levels opened 1322 bank accounts under pseudonyms and aliases. The total amount of money is 98.6 billion yuan (about US$12 billion). Chen Liangyu, former Shanghai City CCP Party Secretary, has 53 anonymous accounts, which have a total of nearly 300 million yuan (about US$ 35 million). It is reported that Chen is also very dissolute and immoral and has a total of eleven mistresses.

The Fourth Report of “The Investigation in Shanghai”

On September 26, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s central government transferred 260 people into Shanghai from the Central Committee of Political and Legislative Affairs, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Central Military Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Commission for Discipline Inspection of China’s Central Bank, and the General Staff Protection Bureau.

On September 29, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection’s Shanghai working group handed in the fourth report of “The Investigation in Shanghai” to the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CCP and Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the CCP.

Shanghai High Ranking Officials’ Anonymous Accounts Have Nearly 100 Billion Yuan

The fourth report pointed out that they have already investigated and frozen suspected anonymous bank accounts of spouses and close relatives of officials of different levels of Shanghai, the officials of the public security bureau, and officials of the political and legislative organizations. These bank accounts were opened in the local Bank of China, Industry and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, China Agriculture Bank, China Transportation Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, China Citic Bank, to name just a few. There are 1322 clandestine bank accounts (including 355 foreign currency accounts), with a total deposit of 98.643 billion yuan (about US$ 12 billion).

Chen Liangyu Has Nearly 300 Million Yuan in Bank

According to the report, through preliminary investigation it was found that former Shanghai City CCP Party Secretary Chen Liangyu, his spouse, and close relatives altogether had 53 bank accounts under anonymous and cryptographic names, and nine of them were foreign currency accounts. The total amount of money deposited is 274.1 million yuan (about US$ 35 million). The report indicates that through investigation, Chen Liangyu, his spouse and close relatives had nine houses and three companies in Shanghai. Twenty-five passports for Chen, his spouse, close relatives, staff, and security personnel were found. Of these, 17 are under pseudonyms. The other 19 flight tickets can be used throughout the year to fly to European countries and Australia by first class and business class.

Chen Liangyu’s Corruption History

The report pointed out that through preliminary investigation and people’s report, Since May 1993, Chen had indecent relationships with 11 women in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Nantong, and a few other cities. There are four other charges against him for rapes he committed between September 2001 and October 2002. In private settlements Chen provided compensations of 250,000 (US$ 30,000) to 500,000 (US$ 60,000) yuan, allocated the victims jobs, and authorized contract projects to cover up his deeds to prevent these cases from being publicly exposed.

This report pointed out that from September 1990, when Chen was appointed as Vice CCP Party Secretary of the Huangpo District of Shanghai City, to October 2002, there were 523 letters reporting Chen’s corruption and extravagance, his predilection for colleagues who violate the law, and his actions of obtaining illegal benefits for his relatives, and other corrupt acts.

The report also indicated that at the meetings of the Shanghai City Standing Committee and the Shanghai City Standing Committee Expansion Conference, Chen said, “As long as we have an economic boom, make achievements and make sure people don’t come out to make trouble, I will protect those people who do something special for the economy and have done some small [illegal] matters in their lives; the higher ups won’t find anything out. The economy is primary, the life style secondary. In western countries, it is very common to have a relationship outside of marriage and have mistresses.”

The report pointed out that Chen commented at a CCP Organization Living meeting earlier this year, “If the Central Government wants to investigate Shanghai’s economics, I can go play golf; if the Central Government wants to investigate my personal life style, I think at least one third, if not half, of the members of the Standing Committee of the Central Government would have to be investigated first!”