Authorities to appeal against Huizhou court's ruling
A Hong Kong-owned logistics centre in Huizhou, Guangdong, will have to wait to collect a multimillion yuan court-ordered payout, with confirmation yesterday that authorities plan to appeal against the decision.
The Huizhou Intermediate People's Court last month ordered Huidong county's transport bureau to pay more than 13.7 million yuan to the Yuedong Freight Logistics Centre, owned by Hong Kong resident Lai Kun-yu.
The court found the bureau had charged the centre 2.6 million yuan a year in illegal 'paid service fees' between November 2000 and April this year. The bureau told the logistics firm the money had to be shared with local business administration, taxation and public security authorities, but was unable to account for the charges.
Yuedong asked for a 15.6 million yuan payout but the court granted 13.7 million yuan.
A bureau official yesterday denied the 'paid service' charges amounted to corruption and said the bureau would appeal to the Guangdong Higher People's Court.
'We charged the money as administrative fees for local logistics companies to use public roads. It's not corruption,' the official said. 'We don't accept the ruling. We will appeal soon.' She refused to give further details.