Will the ‘most corrupt official in China’ be sentenced to death?
17 Aug 2020
By Yu Zeyuan
Beijing correspondent and senior researcher, Lianhe Zaobao
Translated by Grace Chong
Lai Xiaomin, former chairman of China Huarong Asset Management, was recently charged with taking bribes worth over 1.78 billion RMB. Corruption cases have been dealt with harshly in the past, but not in the case of a deputy minister-level official taking bribes of such a large magnitude. Will Lai be made an example of as a signal to other "pests” who are waiting to crawl out of the woodwork?
Former chairman of China Huarong Asset Management Lai Xiaomin being tried in court for accepting bribes worth over 1.78 billion RMB. (Weibo)
Last week, former chairman of China Huarong Asset Management Lai Xiaomin was charged with accepting bribes worth over 1.78 billion RMB (roughly S$357 million). This set the record for the largest amount of money involved in a corruption case since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Lai, whose rank is equivalent to a deputy minister, took bribes that exceeded both that of the minister-level former Shaanxi party chief Zhao Zhengyong’s 717 million RMB, and the former vice-mayor of Lvliang City Zhang Zhongsheng’s 1.04 billion RMB. In one fell swoop, he became China’s most corrupt official.
17 Aug 2020
By Yu Zeyuan
Beijing correspondent and senior researcher, Lianhe Zaobao
Translated by Grace Chong
Lai Xiaomin, former chairman of China Huarong Asset Management, was recently charged with taking bribes worth over 1.78 billion RMB. Corruption cases have been dealt with harshly in the past, but not in the case of a deputy minister-level official taking bribes of such a large magnitude. Will Lai be made an example of as a signal to other "pests” who are waiting to crawl out of the woodwork?
Former chairman of China Huarong Asset Management Lai Xiaomin being tried in court for accepting bribes worth over 1.78 billion RMB. (Weibo)
Last week, former chairman of China Huarong Asset Management Lai Xiaomin was charged with accepting bribes worth over 1.78 billion RMB (roughly S$357 million). This set the record for the largest amount of money involved in a corruption case since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Lai, whose rank is equivalent to a deputy minister, took bribes that exceeded both that of the minister-level former Shaanxi party chief Zhao Zhengyong’s 717 million RMB, and the former vice-mayor of Lvliang City Zhang Zhongsheng’s 1.04 billion RMB. In one fell swoop, he became China’s most corrupt official.