Official fired for using state funds for massage

By Tom Qian  |   2009-2-18  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

A MUNICIPAL Party committee in east China's Zhejiang Province has removed the party secretary of a local auditing bureau from his post because he used public funds to pay for massage services, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.

Wei Juntu, the former Party secretary and director general of Dongyang City Auditing Bureau, racked up four bills, totaling 7,126 yuan (US$1,042), at a massage parlor in 2003.

Scans of the bills were posted on Tianya.cn, one of China's most popular bulletin boards, on January 20. The bills show a detailed list of services such as "European-style massage" and "tips."

The person who posted the bills online claimed a European-style massage cost 400 yuan, while tips were 600 yuan.

Wei had served as the director general of the auditing bureau since 2003. It was unclear who had the massages.

Wei has refunded the money to Dongyang Discipline Investigation and Supervision Office.

The Dongyang City Party Committee asked all government departments to strengthen supervision on public fund use and corruption.