Alleged bribes totaled 600m yuan

A former senior military official facing corruption charges is alleged to have accumulated goods and property worth more than 600 million yuan ($98 million) as a result of taking bribes, according to a report.

Such a haul would be the largest in any corruption case involving a member of the People's Liberation Army.

Lieutenant General Gu Junshan, former deputy chief of the PLA's General Logistics Department, was charged with embezzlement, bribery, misuse of State funds and abuse of power by the military procuratorate in March. His three siblings and his secretary, Qiao Xijun, were arrested.

Investigators are working to determine whether more than 40 other officers were involved in his alleged misconduct. The anti-graft campaign targeting the armed forces is likely to continue, according to the report in Phoenix Weekly.

Gu's position gave him extensive influence over the procurement of housing, infrastructure and supply contracts for China's 2.3-million-strong armed forces, as the logistics department oversees much of the military's real estate and other assets.

The case allegedly involves State property worth 30 billion yuan, and Gu's assets are said to include 60 homes, gold bullion and a secret basement full of expensive liquor, jewelry, artworks and other luxury goods, according to the report. Investigators raided a storage basement that Gu kept at his home village in Henan province, seizing four truckloads of items, including 20 crates of liquor and 400 kg of gold.

Gu became a grassroots officer in the armed forces in Henan when he graduated from high school, but was promoted rapidly to the vice-minister level. He benefited from a well-connected network of high-ranking officials in the military, according to the report.

Gu is said to have also offered bribes by sending the patron a Mercedes-Benz car laden with hundreds of kilograms of gold.

Gu changed the date of birth given in his records three times, obtained a fake diploma and passed himself off as a professor and PhD supervisor to pave the way for his promotion.

The trial will be heard behind closed doors by a military court, as cases involving military secrets or that concern national security are not tried in public.