Brother of retired head of Chinese military in spotlight over misused disaster relief funds
Department headed by Guo Boquan accused of using funds instead for staff housing
The younger brother of retired military chief Guo Boxiong has been put in the hot seat after graft busters in Shaanxi province anti-graft agency discovered that the local civil affairs bureau, which the younger Guo heads, had misused disaster recovery funds to build housing for civil servants.
Guo Boxiong, who was vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission from 2002 to 2012, is himself under investigation for corruption by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). His joint-chairman, Xu Caihou, died of cancer after in March after reportedly confessing to taking bribes in October.
The South China Morning Post learned last month from sources close to the matter that Guo Boxiong had been put under investigation. Major general Guo Zhenggang, Guo Boxiong’s son, was also detained in a graft probe made public in March.
Guo Boquan, the general’s younger brother, still chairs the Shaanxi Provincial Civil Affairs Bureau. There in no indication that he is embroiled in the ongoing probes.
He hosted a meeting on the bureau’s major disciplinary breaches on May 12 following a month-long team inspection by the provincial anti-graft agency, the agency said on its official website on Sunday.
The bureau was one among eight government departments, public institutes and state-owned enterprises targeted in the first round of austerity and anti-graft inspections in the province this year.