Shanghai Free Trade Zone ex-boss Dai Haibo faces formal graft probe
Dai Haibo's ex-wife reported his corrupt dealings to CCDI inspectors, sources say
Shanghai has officially launched a corruption investigation into the former head of the mainland's first free-trade zone (FTZ), who was the city's first senior cadre to come to the attention of anti-graft inspectors last year.
Dai Haibo, 53, "seriously violated party discipline and laws" - the standard euphemism for corruption - Xinhua reported yesterday, citing Shanghai's commission for discipline inspection.
The announcement came six months after Dai was sacked as executive deputy director of the Shanghai FTZ administration committee, the de facto top executive of the zone, which had been touted as China's testing ground for economic reforms.
The announcement did not elaborate on Dai's alleged wrongdoings.
"It came as no surprise since he was removed from the FTZ post because of findings of wrongdoing," a Shanghai government source said. "The launch of the investigation was a hard decision for city leaders since they had obviously hoped to offer Dai a 'soft landing'."
According to three sources, Dai's ex-wife reported his corrupt dealings to the national graft watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, before he was removed from the FTZ job in September.