Economic boom marred by increasing demolition officials’ abuse of power.
Abuse of power by housing and demolition officials has been on the increase this decade and is causing massive economic losses, an investigation has concluded in an official paper released to the Global Times Tuesday.
Official bribery took place in 28 of the city’s total 41 demolition cases this decade, and abuse of power – bullying – in five cases. Some 38 of the 41 cases involved corrupt housing or demolition officials, the prosecutors revealed. One third were cases of collective corruption, the biggest involving 16 officials.
By studying 10 years of cases, the Shijingshan district procuratorate team had identified 10 common issues, spokeswoman Wang Shuolei said.
The most publicized case involved Shichahai housing administration center director Zhang Jichun, sentenced to death on September 18 last year for receiving 7.3 million yuan in bribes and paying a 300,000 yuan ($45,116.18) bribe himself.
Zhang’s gambled 3 million yuan ($451,162) away in Macao, much of the cash coming from demolition compensation intended for residents, according to the Procuratorial Daily Tuesday.
Criminals could be found profiting at each and every stage of the demolition process: real estate developers, demolition companies and government departments including the sub-district administration committee and urban planning commission.
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