More than 130 prison officials in Hunan have been implicated in a massive corruption scandal as investigators probe the former chief of the province's correctional system.
Liu Wanqing , 56, director of the Hunan Provincial Bureau of Prison Management, was detained in May last year and placed under shuanggui - a type of disciplinary investigation that targets corrupt party officials - for allegedly taking 11 million yuan (HK$12.5 million) in bribes, the Beijing-based China Youth Daily reported yesterday.
It quoted officials familiar with the case as saying that several department heads at the bureau had also been taken from their offices in June or July.
The report said many of the correctional officers implicated in corruption were senior officials, including the directors of several city prisons in Hunan. They allegedly bribed Liu.
Bu Zhongyun , one of the vice-directors of the bureau, clandestinely sent Liu 50,000 yuan in the second half of 2004 when Liu and the Justice Department were assessing candidates for vice- director positions.
Bu has been jailed for seven years for offering and accepting bribes.
Apart from taking bribes from his subordinates, Liu also reportedly gave false medical paroles to inmates after taking bribes from them.