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Thieves expose cadres’ dubious fortunes
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AMID the ongoing clampdown on “tigers,” a byword for corrupt senior cadres, China’s graft busters can be assisted in their efforts by an unlikely helper: thieves.
Two female thieves, named Tang Shuiyan and Fang Yunyun, were caught in the act while trying to break into the home of an official in Hefei, capital city of Anhui Province, on May 26. On July 8, Fang, 20, was given a prison sentence of 10 years but her state of pregnancy enabled her to serve part of the term outside the prison. Tang, 30, was still awaiting trial.
Prior to the failed heist, the duo had established their name by stealing from officials only. And they were choosey about the victims — they targeted department-level officials and above.
Back in 2009, Tang had been arrested on a burglary charge in Lishui, Zhejiang Province, but was released on bail because she was pregnant. She fled and later joined Fang in her stealing rampage. On May 23, three days before they were arrested, Fang broke into the home of the deputy director of the banking watchdog in Anhui and made off with about 600 pre-paid shopping cards, with an aggregate value of 1.5 million yuan (US$250,000).
What distinguishes these two thieves from their peers is not just their gender or the identities of their chosen victims, but also their audacity. Tang had once worked for a telecoms company, where she acquired the information of her desired victims, including home address and phone number. Before her “unannounced visits,” she would call to make sure no one was home or in the office.
Every time they committed a theft, the duo would take photos of the stolen items and send them to an accomplice, to be used as a warning to victims against calling the police should they be caught red-handed. Since most of the stolen properties were predictably ill-gotten gains — their value way exceeded the owners’ official salaries and legitimate income — most victims had understandably chosen to remain silent.
Officials appear to be easy and high-value targets who won’t fight back. Tang said she flew from one city to another to reach her targets — an expensive way to commit a crime but the high costs were “simply worth it.” While in detention, she told reporters that “you cannot imagine how amply some cadres’ offices are stocked with gifts and valuables. Take just a few of them, and they are enough to recover the airfares.”
Revelation of officials’ apparently ill-gotten gains also became the women’s pleas for leniency after they were arrested by police and resolved to become “tainted witnesses” of sorts.
For instance, Tang once blew the whistle on her two victims, Wang Shujun, ex-head of Rural Credit Cooperatives in Guizhou Province, and Cheng Mengren, ex-director of the Transportation Department in Guizhou. Her expose led to the duo’s being investigated for disciplinary violations and later indicted for taking bribes.
Female ‘Robin Hood’
So this time, the duo decided to play their old trick again, to testify about the possible excesses of their latest two victims from Anhui in exchange for some clemency. But they were disappointed to learn that their expose didn’t work this time because police didn’t transfer to the prosecutor case files necessary for indictment. In other words, the Anhui officials aren’t going to be prosecuted.
This sparked a controversy, with many online sympathizers of the two thieves crying foul that police had deliberately shielded the official victim from damaging allegations. Many have nicknamed the duo as “modern female Robin Hood,” stealing from those who become filthy rich through corruption.
Some observers even quipped that thieves now rank among the top three giveaways of official graft — the other two being mistresses and diaries. (Some officials have the curious habit of keeping a diary of their sexual debaucheries, which, once lost, will lead to their downfall.)
The “Robin Hood” moniker doesn’t actually suit them, because the duo didn’t rob the rich to help the poor.
Widespread sympathy with or even glorification of them is misinformed and misleading, because the fact that they stole from corrupt officials, albeit an object of public resentment, is no excuse for breaking the law and walking away scot-free.
The duo do have something to teach our ombudsmen, who appear less capable of identifying sleaze. They need to become more aggressive in their intrusion into the financial secrets that officials try so hard to protect.
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