Land official probed further on graft charges

A land resource official has been transferred to the judicial department for further investigation and possible prosecution for alleged serious violations of Party discipline and accepting large bribes, a senior official from Guangzhou's top anti-graft body said.

"Huang Huahui, former deputy director of the land consolidation department under the Guangzhou land development center, was a deputy county-level official, but the bribes he is charged with taking are huge,"said Mei Heqing, a member of the standing committee of Guangzhou Party Commission of Discipline Inspection. "Huang's case is startling and has a very bad social influence."

Huang mainly accepted bribes for requisitioning land, and examining and approving land development projects when he was in office, Mei told a press conference in Guangzhou.

Mei did not reveal further details of Huang's case as it has entered into judicial procedure.

Mei is also deputy director of the Guangzhou City Bureau of Supervision.

He said Huang is just one of 17 land and housing officials involved in a corruption case centered on Li Junfu, former Party chief and director of Guangzhou Land Resources and Housing Administrative Bureau. All 17 have been put under further investigation.

Li, 50, a native of Taojiang, Hunan province, was taken away by anti-graft officials on July 3 for further investigation of charges of serious violations of Party discipline and accepting massive bribes.

Huang is alleged to have offered a large sum of bribes to Li, who was also director of the Guangzhou land development center.

Li is also regarded as one of the main officials who offered bribes to Wan Qingliang, the former Party chief of Guangzhou. Wan was sacked and put under investigation for serious violations of Party discipline and accepting bribes at the end of June.

Mei said the judicial departments and police have issued a wanted notice online to help locate and apprehend Li's wife, surnamed Wang, 43, who fled overseas after Li was taken for investigation.

Li accepted most of the bribes via Wang and Wang's sister, local media reported. Wang used to be a lawyer who specialized in handling land, housing and related cases for a local law firm.

Peng Peng, a senior researcher with the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences, said the

corruption case that involves so many officials indicates that most land and housing departments are hotbeds of bribery and corruption.

"In addition to further raising officials' poor legal awareness, government departments at all levels should try to prevent the centralization of power by senior officials to help keep corruption in check," Peng said on Tuesday.

Transparent and effective democratic supervision should also be established to monitor the operation of government departments and major officials, he added.