Three judges and a discipline inspection official who were filmed cavorting with prostitutes in a nightclub were removed from their posts at the Shanghai Higher People's Court, municipal officials said yesterday.
Chen Xueming and Zhao Minghua , chief and deputy chief tribunal judge of the No 1 civil court, as well as Ni Zhengwen , deputy director of the court's discipline inspection commission, were also expelled from the Communist Party. Wang Guojun , the deputy chief tribunal judge of the No 5 civil court, was sacked and placed on party probation.
A fifth individual, Guo Xianghua, the deputy manager of a company affiliated with the Shanghai Construction Group, was expelled from the party and fired by the company.
Chen, Zhao, Ni and Guo were detained by local police and would be held for 10 days, the municipal discipline inspection watchdog said.
The authority said Guo invited Zhao to dinner at a local restaurant on June 9, and the three other court officials joined them. After dinner, they went to Hengshan Resort where they enjoyed the services of prostitutes.
Zhao, Chen, Ni and Guo again patronised prostitutes later that night.
The Beijing News previously reported that whistle-blower Ni Guopei began looking into Zhao's behaviour in 2010, after he learned he might be closely related to the plaintiff of a civil lawsuit Ni's company was involved in four years ago.