A senior official with China's Ministry of Finance has been
detained on suspicion of taking bribes, it was reported in
yesterday Beijing Times.
A clerk with the ministry told China Daily that Xu
Fangming, director of the ministry's Finance Department, had been
detained in relation to a case that has already resulted in the
arrests of two top officials with the Agricultural Development Bank
of China.
The Beijing Municipal People's Procuratorate, believed to be in
charge of the investigation, refused to comment, as did the
ministry.
According to Beijing Times' unnamed source, Xu was
detained by the procuratorate's anti-corruption department several
weeks ago. No other details of the case were given.
As well as being director of the Ministry of Finance's finance
department, Xu is also one of seven directors of the state-owned
China Central Huijin Investment Company, a major shareholder in two
State-owned commercial banks, the Construction Bank of China and
the Bank of China.
The case that Xu is suspected of involvement in relates to two
former vice-presidents of the Agricultural Development Bank of
China, Yu Dalu and Hu Chushou, said the report.
According to an earlier report by the Beijing Times in
mid-June, Yu allegedly embezzled 4 million yuan (US$480,000) from
the bank and took 8 million yuan (US$960,000) in bribes. Hu
allegedly took 6 million yuan (US$720,000) in bribes.
Both men have been arrested and are awaiting prosecution, the
report said.
Xu is reportedly the highest-ranking finance official to be
involved in corruption investigations.
(China Daily June 29, 2005)