08.27.10
Corrupt Businessman Plays to Stereotypes in Beijing
Whenever you read about the latest corruption case in China, what immediately springs to mind when you think about how the money was spent? I asked ODB, and here’s what he came up with:
- Buy houses for his mistresses
- Trips to Macau for gambling
- Crazy expensive cars
- Play the stock market, day-trader style
Think of your own list, then read this article from from the Wall Street Journal’s China Realtime Report:
On trial is the head of a finance company who stands accused of bribing bank officials in return for more than 700 million yuan, or more than $100 million, in loans for fake mortgages and small businesses, according to Chinese media reports.
The 30-year-old head of the Beijing Huading Credit Security Company, Hu Yi, allegedly paid officials at the Beijing Rural Commercial Bank to help him apply for loans with fake names and businesses from the end of 2007 to February 2009. A total of 18 people are on trial, eight of them senior bank officials.
The official allegedly used the money to gamble in Macau, invest in mines and buy calligraphy and paintings, most of which turned out to be fake, according to the Legal Mirror. Only half of the total 708 embezzled yuan was recovered, the Chinese reports said.
Bonus points if you guessed that the expensive paintings and cultural artifacts were fake.
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