Judges investigated for prostitute allegations

[Desire]

Judges investigated for prostitute allegations

Global Times | 2013-8-3 0:43:01
By Liu Dong

Shanghai High People's Court announced on Friday that it was investigating a claim that several senior judges of the court had solicited prostitutes after a video was posted online.

The nearly 10-minute long video clip was initially posted on Youku, a video sharing website, on Thursday and was reposted on Sina Weibo on Friday. It showed five males, who were identified by the original poster as judges in Shanghai High People's Court getting cosy with several young women at a resort in Shanghai's Pudong New Area on June 9.

The hotel's camera allegedly showed five sexily dressed women entering the rooms of the judges late at night before exiting about half an hour later, with several stuffing money into their bras.

The whistle-blower named two of the five judges as Chen Xueming and Zhao Minghua, respectively court chief and deputy chief judge of the No.1 civil trial court.

The report also exposed Zhao and his family as owning at least four properties worth millions of yuan in Shanghai.

The whistle-blower, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Global Times that he asked his friend to post the video for him as he didn't have the IT skills to do so.

"I just want these corrupted judges who ruined my life and family to be brought to justice," he said. The whistle-blower refused to provide any more evidence of the grievances he had with the judges.

He added that he had received anonymous threatening phone calls but was determined to provide any new evidence to the police to help with their investigation.

Although the whistle-blower refused to say how he acquired the video, he claimed to own two hours of complete footage which would inculpate the judges.

The high court published an official announcement late afternoon on Friday, saying it was aware of the report and had launched an investigation. Sources at the court said the judges would face serious punishment if the report was found to be true.

 

[Confusion]

Judge in prostitute scandal said to own 4 apartments

Shanghai Daily, August 6, 2013

One of the Shanghai judges under investigation over allegations they sought the services of prostitutes together owns four apartments in the city, a whistleblower told the Beijing-based Legal Evening News yesterday.

Zhao Minghua, 47, vice president of the Shanghai Higher People's Court's No. 1 civil court, was suspended from his post on Sunday over the prostitution allegations.

He claimed this was beyond the means of a judge's salary.

Zhao Minghua, 47, vice president of the Shanghai Higher People's Court's No. 1 civil court, was suspended from his post on Sunday over the prostitution allegations.

The whistleblower, surnamed Ni, told the Legal Evening News that Zhao had two old apartments that are rented out and two newer apartments where he and his in-laws stayed.

Ni said Zhao bought two apartments on Siping Road without loans in 2005. Ni estimated their value at more than 7 million yuan (US$1.14 million). He told the newspaper he wondered how Zhao could afford the purchases as his wife didn't work and there was no family business.

The newspaper said people in the neighborhood confirmed to its reporter that Zhao lived in an 18th floor apartment in the community.

Ni began tracking Zhao after losing a civil case. He believed Zhao had manipulated the verdict because the man suing him and his lawyer were Zhao's relatives.

Ni had invested in a Home Inn budget hotel at 775 Yanchang Road M. in Zhabei District and was in dispute over a construction project. After losing the case, Ni was forced to sell his Shanghai apartment in July last year to pay his debts.

Over the following year he tracked Zhao to try to find any evidence of misconduct.

On June 9 this year, he discovered that four judges and a lawyer were seeking prostitution services at the Hengshan Resort hotel in Pudong. By claiming he had lost items in the hotel he gained access to surveillance video which he copied, edited and uploaded online. Ni claimed it revealed evidence of wrongdoing. He said he used various tools, such as a cellphone, an iPad and a pair of "secret filming glasses" to copy the footage.

The report said Ni also suspected three other judges of interfering with his case. He named them as Tang Zhuoqing, vice president of the Zhabei District People's Court, and Zhu Yixin and Liao Weijun, president and vice president of the court's No. 3 civil court.

Ni said Zhu was the chief judge in his case while the signature of the chief judge on the ruling was Liao's. Ni said that when he had pointed this out to Tang he was ignored.

The other three officials involved in the Hengshan Resort scandal have also been suspended while an investigation is carried out. One was named as Chen Xueming, president of the No. 1 civil court while the two others remain unnamed.

The newspaper said that Ni hoped the investigation could lead to the verdict in his civil case being reversed. "As long as there is misconduct, it will be found out," Ni said.

 

[TrueColors]

Judges prostitution scandal tars judicial image

Xinhua, August 8, 2013

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) on Wednesday said the four Shanghai court officials involved in a prostitution scandal have tarred the image of the nation's judges and scarred judicial credibility.

Judges prostitution scandal tars judicial image.[Internet photo]

The SPC ordered courts across the country to fight corruption and eliminate black sheep so that there are no similar events in future.

The three judges -- Chen Xueming, Zhao Minghua and Wang Guojun -- and discipline official Ni Zhengwen, all serving at the Shanghai Municipal Higher People's Court, fell from grace after a netizen released video footage that appears to show them soliciting prostitutes at the Hengshan Resort in Shanghai on the night of June 9.

The Shanghai municipal discipline commission and the Shanghai Municipal Higher People's Court on Tuesday expelled Zhao, Chen and Ni from the Communist Party of China and placed Wang on probation.

They have also suggested sacking the four officials pending approval from the city's legislature.

The SPC ordered all judiciaries to learn from the affair, be mindful of laws and disciplines, grow immune to temptations, and work in an impartial and clean manner.

It also required courts at all levels to strengthen internal supervision and improve judicial credibility.

 

[aerobwala]

 

[Blade]

4 judges sacked over prostitution scandal

Xinhua, August 9, 2013

The municipal legislature of Shanghai decided on Thursday to sack four senior judges from the city's higher court over their alleged hiring of prostitutes at a nightclub.

Chen Xueming, was sacked by the Standing Committee of Shanghai Municipal People's Congress, from his posts as a member of the Shanghai Municipal Higher People's Court's judicial committee, chief of No. 1 civil court and judge.

The municipal legislature of Shanghai decided on Thursday to sack four senior judges from the city's higher court over their alleged hiring of prostitutes at a nightclub.[Internet photo]

Zhao Minghua was dismissed from his posts as deputy chief of the No. 1 civil court and judge. Ni Zhengwen was fired from his post as judge of the higher court.

The legislative session also approved the removal of Wang Guojun from his posts as deputy chief of the higher court's No. 5 civil court and judge.

The four had all served the city's higher court. They were placed under official scrutiny after a netizen released video footage that appears to show them soliciting prostitutes at the Hengshan Resort in Shanghai on the night of June 9.

Investigators found the four, along with a manager at a state-owned company in Shanghai, spent a night in the resort's nightclub where they allegedly hired prostitutes.

Zhao, Chen and Ni have been also expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) while Wang was placed under a two-year probation within the Party. The company manager, Guo Xianghua, was also sacked and expelled from the CPC.

Yin Yicui, chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress, on Thursday demanded strict administration and supervision of staff in the city's court system to resolutely clean out corrupt officials.

Cui Yadong, acting president of the municipal higher court, urged that lessons be learned from the scandal and called for "zero tolerance" toward any undiscipline or law violations.

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) on Wednesday said the four court officials have tarred the image of the nation's judges and scarred judicial credibility.

The SPC ordered courts across the country to fight corruption and eliminate black sheep so that there are no similar events in future.

 

[Someday]

Shanghai Court Officials & Judges Caught Hiring Prostitutes

by Fauna on Sunday, August 4, 2013

​

The following video has been viewed over 4.2m times since it was uploaded yesterday and featured on the home page of China’s popular video sharing website Youku…

From Youku:
Internet Exposes Surveillance Footage of 5 Shanghai High Court Officials Summoning Prostitutes, High Court Launches Investigation

Internet exposes scandal involving 5 people of the Shanghai People’s High Court including the vice president, uploading surveillance footage onto the internet. Shanghai High People’s Court authorities responded this afternoon [yesterday]: The two people in the surveillance footage are indeed Shanghai High People’s Court Civil Tribunal Presiding Judge Chen Xueming and Deputy Presiding Judge Zhao Minghua, and people have already been organized to launch an investigation.

<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZKZVzG5OE5o?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>
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Summary of the above video:

1. June 9th 5:25pm, five men are shown in an elevator at a resort, with Chen Xueming and Zhao Minghua circled.
2. At 9pm, the five men are seen entering the “Diamond No. 1″ KTV room, the resort nightclub’s best room. During this time, many females are seen entering and leaving the room. The text on the screen says Chen is selecting xiao jie for the other officials. Xiao jie in this context refers to “hostesses”, females paid to provide company to and drink with male patrons in such establishments. Some hostesses are also prostitutes who provide sexual services.
3. At 11pm, the men are seen exiting the room and walking down the stairs of the nightclub “hand-in-hand” with the hostesses.
4. By around 11:20pm, the men are shown in the elevator and returning to their hotel rooms on the fourth floor.
5. Next, four women are shown in the hallway entering the various men’s rooms, at 12:33am, 12:34am, and 12:37am. The women are seen leaving between half an hour to an hour later.
6. At 9:30am the next morning on the 10th, the five men leave the resort in two cars.
7. The end of the video claims Zhao Minghua often visits certain nightclubs, providing footage of such, including him leaving with hostesses/prostitutes.

​

The person who posted the video has told reporters that the court is unjust, that it had essentially forced him to sell his home on Shanghai’s best street worth over 7 million, that he now has no home to return, and can only rent. He claims it was only after a lot of agonizing and having no other choice that he has done this, and that since posting the video, he has already received threatening phone calls. He say he still holds over 2 hours of footage of the five men, as well as evidence of Zhao Minghua keeping a mistress, and is willing to cooperate with a government investigation.

The resort involved openly advertised itself as an official/officially sanctioned destination for government officials, leading some people to wonder how prostitution could be involved in such a place.