Five judges from Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court have been
arrested and detained on corruption charges, the Shenzhen People's
Procuratorate announced Friday.
The official confirmation by the local procuratorate came after
the court corruption cases were highlighted by domestic media.
Bai Xinchao, chief procurator of the Shenzhen People's
Procuratorate, said in Friday's news release that the five
suspects, including a vice president, two court presidents, a
director of the implementation division and a retired judge, are
alleged to have taken advantage of loopholes in the court's
internal control and supervision system several years ago.
The alleged corruption cases, believed to be linked, were
initially triggered by a tip-off to the Shenzhen People's
Procuratorate in May. The five judges were then arrested in a
series of raids ranging from June and September.
Investigations showed that Liao Zhaohui, the retired judge, is
alleged to have repeatedly taken bribes from clients during his
tenure. Cai Xiaoling and Zhang Tinghua, both court presidents, are
alleged to have taken bribes by taking advantage of their rights to
appoint auctioning houses to sell possessions recovered in
bankruptcy cases, and taken bribes from clients. Investigators are
also reported to have found a large amount of cash in RMB and Hong
Kong dollars in Zhang's office.
The other two suspects, Pei Hongquan, vice president of the
Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, and Li Huili, director of the
implementation division of the court, and Pei's ex-wife, are under
further investigation. Evidence shows the two are suspected of
accepting huge bribes, said Bai.
The local procuratorate did not reveal the amount of money
involved in the alleged offenses. Bai said the crimes were
committed several years ago when auction houses and auction
appraisals were appointed by judges independently from any court
supervision system.
(Shenzhen Daily November 13, 2006)