China’s Jiang Jiemin raises no objections at his trial for corruption and bribery
Former boss of China's biggest petrol company admits corruption and abuse of power charges
A top official who led China's biggest petroleum company and was later assigned to oversee state-owned companies admitted in court yesterday that he was guilty of corruption and abuse of power, the court said.
"My family property went far beyond what my legal income could afford," said Jiang Jiemin , according to a statement posted on the microblog of the Hanjiang Intermediate People's Court in Hubei province. "I admit my crimes and express my regret."
The hearing ended yesterday afternoon and a date for sentencing was not announced.
Jiang is a former chairman of the state-run China National Petroleum Corporation, which has been the target of a graft investigation amid a larger anti-corruption campaign that has netted top officials and others.
Jiang was charged with taking bribes, possessing a large number of assets from unidentified sources and abusing his position at a state-owned enterprise.
Jiang, either directly or through his wife, received bribes worth about 14 million yuan (HK$17.7 million) from 14 sources between 2004 and 2013, state-run Xinhua reported, citing prosecution documents.
The court said on its microblog that prosecutors had presented evidence including witness statements, confessions and confiscated items, and posted a photo of a pale-faced Jiang in the dock flanked by two police officers. It quoted Jiang as saying he had caused "undeniable damage" to the country and hurt the public's trust in the Communist Party.
"I sabotaged the management and development of state oil and gas fields," he said, according to the court, while also asking for lenient treatment. "I felt remorse for what I have done".
Prosecutors asked for leniency because he pleaded guilty.
Jiang was chairman of CNPC, the parent company of PetroChina, Asia's biggest oil producer, before being appointed in 2013 to the Cabinet body that oversees China's biggest state-owned companies.
Jiang was fired in September 2013 after he came under investigation for graft.
A series of senior figures from the state-owned oil industry have been detained in the crackdown led by President Xi Jinping that appears to be aimed at tightening central control over PetroChina and other powerful state companies.
The energy industry was a power base for Zhou Yongkang , the former security chief, who was arrested in December on charges including leaking state secrets.
Control over state companies can provide political figures with jobs to reward supporters and money to promote their own careers.
Jiang was believed to have links to Zhou, although prosecutors have not cited any link between the two cases. Xinhua said that Jiang, under Zhou's instruction, had abused his power in handling gas field exploration and equipment tendering.
While at CNPC, Jiang was caught in the fallout of the scandal following a fatal Ferrari crash in Beijing in 2012. The only son of Ling Jihua , the one-time aide to former president Hu Jintao , died in the accident, which left two passengers seriously injured.
The reported that Jiang was questioned by graft-busters over the transfer of a large sum of money from CNPC to the families of the two injured victims, one of whom died.
At a court in Zhuhai , Tao Yuchun, the former general manager of the CNPC-affiliated Kunlin Natural Gas Utilisation Company, stood trial for receiving bribes of about 52 million yuan, and creating a loss of 261 million yuan in national assets, Xinhua reported.
