Chinese prosecutor fired for ‘asking alleged loan shark’s family for bribe’
- Official has been placed under investigation after court was told a recording had been made of alleged US$44,000 shake-down
- Money-lender’s daughter gave up job with US venture capital firm to return home to help father’s defence
A Chinese prosecutor has been fired over allegations that he asked for a bribe in a loan sharking case.
The authorities in Baotou city in Inner Mongolia announced on Monday that Li Shuyao, a local prosecutor, had been dismissed. The statement did not give the reason for his dismissal.
But an official notice last month said he was under official investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law”, a euphemism for corruption.
A report in Thepaper.cn said the investigation began after the defence told the court there was a recording that allegedly showed Li had asked the defendant’s family for a bribe.
Wang Ran, the defendant’s daughter who returned home from the United States to help her father, said she was pleased to hear Li had been dismissed, adding, “he should have been sacked a long time ago.”
“I hope this will help my father’s case,” she said. “I hope this is a turning point and he gets justice.”
Her father, Wang Yongming, had run a private money lending business in Baotou for decades before Li charged him with blackmail and extortion last year.
The 55-year-old, who has suffered years of ill health and had a leg amputated last year, is in custody in a local hospital.
Wang, who previously worked for a venture capital firm in Chicago, said she had agreed to make a 300,000 yuan (US$44,000) payment to help him because “I was worried about my father’s safety” and “he was in their hands”.
However, she said she had recorded the conversation as a safeguard and gave it to one of the lawyers she engaged to defend her father.
Since her return, Wang has also run into trouble, and she and her brother have been detained accused of concealing their father’s “illegal gains”.
Wang has since been released and placed under residential surveillance, a form of house arrest, to allow her to look after her young son. Her brother remains in detention.
Inner Mongolia has been declared a “disaster zone” in a nationwide anti-corruption drive targeting police and court officials.
According to a report by the official Xinhua news agency, 486 officials in the region have been placed under investigation for corruption and offering “protection” to gangsters since December.
