Official faces trial over 11m yuan in kickbacks in Sichuan quake projects

The party boss of a leading university in Mianyang city - one of the worst-hit areas in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake - will stand trial within weeks on charges of taking bribes worth nearly 11 million yuan (HK$13.7 million), sources say, ahead of next month's fifth anniversary of the 8.0-magitude quake.

The Intermediate People's Court in Bazhong will soon hear the case of Mianyang Normal University party boss Su Zhixian, who allegedly asked for and accepted about 10.8 million yuan in the course of quake reconstruction and other projects, according to a disciplinary source in Sichuan.

A prosecution source in Chengdu , the capital of Sichuan, confirmed the decision and said Su, 56, had surrendered more than 20 million yuan after he was put under investigation by the top graft-busting agency in Sichuan in late September.

Once Su is prosecuted he will become the top official deposed in relation to corruption in rebuilding the disaster zone, after the quake hit the southwestern province on May 12, 2008, killing more than 87,000 people with hundreds of thousands injured.

The disciplinary source said Su was accused of taking kickbacks when projects were initially tendered for and when payments were settled after work finished, adding: "One contractor of a project complained that he had to pay 10,000 yuan for Su's single signature on each invoice. Altogether he paid Su 120,000 yuan for a dozen invoices."

More than 30 of Su's subordinates were questioned by the anti-graft body and 20 of them surrendered cash they had taken, the source said.

One of Su's colleagues said that Li Tiandong , the top official in charge of infrastructure construction on the campus, and Gong Yi , the official who was overseeing audit work at the university, were placed under investigation before Su.