OUYANG DE, the Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong People's Congress under investigation for corruption by the Supreme People's Procuratorate, will soon face prosecution by Guangdong Higher People's Court.
Luo Ji, Director of the Anti-Corruption and Bribery Office under the Supreme People's Procuratorate in Beijing, told the South China Morning Post the investigation of Ouyang, also the former party secretary of Dongguan city in Guangdong, was 'basically completed'.
'The arrest of Ouyang De was approved by the Guangdong People's Congress on the grounds of suspected corruption,' Mr Luo said.
'He admitted guilt to our investigators and he showed a good attitude of contrition.' Though the case is now with the Supreme People's Procuratorate, Mr Luo disclosed it would soon be transferred to the Guangdong court.
'It is a matter of legal procedure. This is a provincial case,' he said. 'Therefore it has to be passed back to the provincial procuratorate first before it can be sent to the Provincial Higher People's Court.' When asked whether the amount of money involved in the case was comparable with sums in other serious scandals, Mr Luo said it was less than one million yuan (HK$929,000).
'The nature and degree of seriousness of the case has to be judged by the Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court,' he explained.
'The penalty depends on his attitude and the amount of money involved.' Mr Luo refused to comment on whether other Guangdong officials were involved.