Government and Policy

Officials protected 'majority of gangs'

By WANG YAN (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-24 06:47

Chongqing High People's Court says total of 24 officials involved

BEIJING - More than half of the gangs busted in the crackdown in Chongqing municipality last year were protected by government officials, the Chongqing High People's Court said in a report released on Thursday.

Twenty-four government officials are either under investigation or face prosecution for cover-ups and conniving with mafia-style gangs, said the report, which included an analysis of the 29 cases handled by the municipality's court last year.

"Some officials didn't follow their duties to prohibit certain acts. Some of them illegally released information of cases under investigation. Some made it seem the criminals surrendered to the police to cover up bigger crimes. And some abused their power to prevent other officials from carrying out their duties," the report said.

The accused include 17 police officers, four government and party officials, and one procuratorate official.

The report said that the number of cases of gang crimes handled by the court annually has been on the rise since 2006.

Corruption among government officials helped the growth of such crimes, the report said.

"With the help of corrupt officials like Wen Qiang (former deputy police chief of Chongqing), gangs gradually grew stronger and bigger."

Following the gang-crushing operation that began in the city in June 2009, several officials have stood trial and been convicted.

On April 14, Wen Qiang was sentenced to death after being found guilty of protecting five organized gangs, accepting bribes, rape and property scams.

On Feb 24, Peng Changjian, former deputy police chief of Chongqing, was jailed for life for protecting gangs.

The 47-year-old was also accused of receiving 4.71 million yuan ($689,000) in bribes from 1998 to 2009, as well as possessing 4.6 million yuan in unexplained assets.

The report also said 71 percent of the accused gangsters were born between 1970 and 1989.

More than 70 percent of them were unemployed, while the remaining were business people, government officials, and workers.

"Some of the accused had previously served as deputies to the People's Congress or members of the CPPCC National Committee, showing the gangs had gradually sneaked into the country's political system," it said.

Over half of the 24 groups had registered to form companies, and five of them had assets worth more than 100 million yuan.

Gambling was the most popular profit-making method, involving 12 gang groups. Other ways included usury, pornography and drug trafficking.

CHINA DAILY