Shanghai uncovered more than 900 bribery cases involving 172 million yuan last year, local media said yesterday. No mention was made, however, of two major corruption cases involving misuse of the city's pension fund or property developer Chau Ching-ngai. The 912 cases involved government officials and company executives. Most cases were centred in a handful of industries, including construction, pharmaceuticals, property, publishing and freight transport. Officials said ways to disguise bribes had proliferated, in many cases by designating them as different types of fees. Other methods included offering trips, expense money, assistance in home decoration, or gambling activities. Shanghai's government has vowed to crack down on bribery by improving internal and external supervision and following leads from other cases. Analysts say bribery is rampant because of a lack of checks on the power of government officials and weak law enforcement. The government listed 12 bribery cases from last year. In one, a Putuo district tax official took 14 million yuan in bribes from construction companies. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail. In another case, an official of the Shanghai Tobacco Group took 3.5 million yuan in bribes and embezzled public funds. He received a 20-year jail term. Shanghai has also detained 22 people in a series of commercial bribery cases in which domestic technology firms gave bribes to employees of at least eight foreign companies, including fast-food giant McDonald's and Whirlpool Appliances. Companies involved said low-level employees, acting as individuals, took bribes in return for buying equipment. The reports made no mention of Shanghai's two biggest corruption cases, which were also believed to involve bribery. Authorities removed Shanghai party secretary Chen Liangyu from his post last year for his involvement in misappropriating the city's pension fund. Separately, authorities rearrested Chau late last year and have formally charged him with giving bribes and falsifying tax invoices. In an interview published by Xinhua's English-language service yesterday, the vice-president of Shanghai's Higher People's Court, Liu Hua , was quoted as saying that Mr Chen and Chau would be given 'no leniency' if found guilty.
