Several senior traffic police officers in Jilin City in Jilin Province were standing trial for issuing driving licenses in return for bribes, the Liaoning-based Business Times reported.

Tang Tianhe, former deputy head of the Jilin traffic police team, was accused of issuing 22,156 driving licenses to people who did not sit the driving tests, the Huichun Municipal People's Court heard Thursday.

The driving licenses were issued in less than two years. Holders of the illegal driving licenses were responsible for the deaths of 11 people and serious injuries to 14 in 124 traffic accidents in Jilin City, the court heard.

Tang was accused of accepting 204,400 yuan (US$24,927) for issuing 56 driving licenses to people who did not sit the driving tests, the court heard. But it was not clear how much Tang had received for all the illegal driving licenses he issued, although he allegedly had more than 900,000 yuan that he could not account for.

The driving license scandal also involved 12 other people in Jilin City, including Zhao Encai, former head of the Jilin traffic police team, other traffic police officers and operators of driving schools.

Zhao Encai was accused of taking bribes and having 1.4 million yuan that he could not account for. His charges were heard by the Yanbian Intermediate People's Court on Wednesday.

Gu Zhanxin, former head of the vehicle administration office in Jilin City, was accused of illegally issuing nearly 6,000 driving licenses to 13 driving schools and receiving bribes totaling more than 2 million yuan from 2001 to 2003. The case was heard by the Wangqing County People's Court on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Han Xiujuan, a police officer with the driving license administration office, stood trial in Longjin City on charges of taking bribes and possessing more than 1 million yuan she could not account for.

Xiong Haitao, the police officer in charge of driving tests in Jilin City, was accused of taking bribes totaling 50,000 yuan and issuing more than 100 driving licenses illegally. Xiong was also accused of bribing Zhao Encai and Gu Zhanxin with about 20,000 yuan each.

Yue Huaimin, head of the Changtong driving school in Huadian City, was accused of bribing Gu Zhanxin and Han Xiujuan with more than 200,000 yuan for driving licenses.

(Shenzhen Daily November 1, 2004)