Former top Party discipline man fired in swoop on graft

By Li Xinran  |   2009-8-25  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE former top Party disciplinary supervisor for eastern China's Zhejiang Province has been sacked and expelled from the Communist Party of China for alleged corruption.

Investigators found that Wang Huayuan accepted huge amount of bribes with his family members and sought illegal profits for others by taking advantage of his position.

Wang also lived an "immoral life" and had crossed the border for gambling many times, CPC's official news Web portal said yesterday.

Wang is expected to be referred to judicial departments awaiting further inquiries and trial for his alleged crimes, the Website said.

A source at the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection disclosed in April that Wang was removed from his post and put under investigation.

Wang is believed to be just one of a number of officials from Guangdong Province being investigated in a snowballing inquiry for their involvement in the alleged criminal activities of China's former home appliance king, Huang Guangyu.

Huang, the founder of Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings Ltd, was once ranked as the richest man on the mainland. Huang was arrested in November for alleged corporate crimes.

Wang, 61, had served Guangdong as head of its disciplinary committee before he became Zhejiang's disciplinary chief in 2006 and a member of the CPC Zhejiang committee. Wang previously was a member of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Former Guangdong top political adviser Chen Shaoji and former assistant public security minister Zheng Shaodong are also under investigation. Chen was once director of Guangdong police, and Zheng was executive deputy. On April 16, Chen was announced to be under investigation.

In June, Xu Zongheng, the mayor of Shenzhen in Guangdong, was put under double designation status - a procedure in which a Party official is ordered to explain allegations of disciplinary violations or corruption at a designated time and place.

Hong Kong-based Ming Pao newspaper quoted insiders as saying that the probe was related to Xu's alleged involvement with Huang.