Prosecutors focus anti-graft efforts on railway personnel

During the first half of this year, 141 graft cases involving railway transportation staff were investigated by prosecutors in an effort to crack down on corruption, the country's top prosecutor's office said Monday.

The total number of cases was up 4.4 percent from the same period last year, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said, adding that 108 cases were rated as serious, in which 15 executives above departmental level were put under investigation.

An unnamed official with the SPP said since the beginning of this year, there has been a crackdown on railway-related criminal cases, with several violations of discipline involving officials and executives being handled. Meanwhile, investigations into serious accidents were also launched.

Among the cases, prosecutors in Kunming, Yunnan Province, investigated 10 cases involving the seizure of railway cargo due to theft and fraud by railway staff.

In another case, authorities investigated and charged a former engineer in charge of supervising the quality and safety of a railway project for alleged dereliction of duty in a fatal railway tunnel explosion on December 25 in Shanxi Province.

Su Shunhu, former deputy director of the transportation bureau under the former Ministry of Railways, has been charged with taking bribes of 24 million yuan ($3.92 million) from three enterprises in eight years.

The case will soon be heard by the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court.

Reforms have been made after the ministry's administrative arm was separated from its commercial body in March, a move that aimed at reducing bureaucracy, curbing corruption and improving efficiency.

Global Times - Agencies