Guangdong businessman Chen Zuyuan appeared several times in official verdicts for bribery.The one who received the largest amount of bribes was Wan Qingliang, the former secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee.
The huge sum of 50 million yuan did not enter Wan Qingliang's pocket.A company controlled by Chen Zuyuan paid a Beijing businessman named Ouyang Ronghua.The other side claimed that they could help Wan Qingliang settle the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Chen Zuyuan was sentenced to four years in prison in the first instance. He thought the sentence was too heavy and appealed.On June 28, the case opened at the second instance of the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court.The trial revealed how Wan Qingliang resisted the investigation before his fall.
Chen Zuyuan is 56 years old and was born in Jiexi County, Jieyang City, Guangdong Province.In 1993, he founded Shenzhen Anyuan Holdings Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Anyuan Holdings).According to Caixin reporter's previous knowledge, Chen Zuyuan has donated to many local municipal projects in Jieyang and is regarded as a sage in Jiexi.
He has a close friendship with Wan Qingliang.Wan Qingliang left the Communist Youth League in 2003 and became the deputy secretary of the Jieyang Municipal Party Committee, and was later promoted to the mayor and secretary of Jieyang.In 2008, Wan Qingliang was promoted to vice governor of Guangdong Province.Since 2011, Wan Qingliang has successively served as deputy secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee, mayor, and secretary.
Prosecutors said: From 2004 to 2014, Chen Zuyuan asked Wan Qingliang several times, hoping that he would help Anyuan Holdings in its construction projects, cooperation between Anyuan Holdings and other companies, and old city renovation.
One loses all, one prospers.This is why Chen Zuyuan is willing to spend a lot of money to help Wan Qingliang keep the black hat.
In fact, Wan Qingliang had already heard the wind before he fell from the horse.Many people want to do timely rain to help Wan Qingliang get out of trouble.For example, Yang Yanwen, who was then Party Secretary of Huadu District, Guangzhou City.Yang Yanwen's official career has been taken care of by Wan Qingliang many times.Before the Spring Festival in 2013, Yang Yanwen received 3 million yuan from a real estate developer in Guangzhou, and put it in the trunk of Wan Qingliang's car on the same day.
People from the local political and business circles in Guangzhou said that Wan Qingliang wanted to resolve the crisis, and Yang Yanwen and others raised money for him.
The exposure of Chen Zuyuan's case added another example to Wan Qingliang's coping strategy at that time.
Prosecutors said: From November 2013 to May 2014, Chen Zuyuan, with the consent of Wan Qingliang, arranged for Shenzhen Jingming Port Trading Co., Ltd., which is actually controlled by him, to pay 50 million yuan to Beijing businessman Ouyang Ronghua.Chen Zuyuan hoped that Ouyang Ronghua could lobby the central leadership to save Wan Qingliang.
According to what Chen Zuyuan said in court, he and Ouyang Ronghua had business contacts.Ouyang Ronghua lived in a townhouse in Xiaotangshan, Beijing. From the end of 2013 to the beginning of 2014, Wan Qingliang, Chen Zuyuan, and Ouyang Ronghua discussed how to settle the investigation in the above-mentioned villa many times.
Prosecutors said: The three people initially discussed the bribe amount of 100 million yuan, but the actual amount delivered was 50 million yuan.
On June 13, 2014, Chen Zuyuan was the first to be investigated.He told the staff of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection about the above matters.Two weeks later, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced that Wan Qingliang was being investigated by the organization.Soon, Ouyang Ronghua was also taken away by the public security organ on suspicion of fraud.
On June 16, 2015, the Supreme People's Court appointed Guangxi Nanning Intermediate People's Court to have jurisdiction over Ouyang Ronghua's suspected fraud case.The Nanning Intermediate People's Court is also the trial court for the Wan Qingliang case.On September 30, 2016, Wan Qingliang was sentenced to life imprisonment for accepting bribes.
50 million yuan was in vain.It was Ouyang Ronghua who first put forward the request for funds.On June 28, Chen Zuyuan stated in court that neither he nor Wan Qingliang realized that this was a scam set by Ouyang Ronghua.Chen Zuyuan's lawyer revealed during the trial: The fraud case has entered the trial stage, and Ouyang Ronghua is likely to be sentenced to life imprisonment.
Chen Zuyuan accepted the facts of the prosecution's allegations, but refused to accept that the sentence was too severe.In the court of second instance, Chen Zuyuan's defense lawyer said that the 50 million yuan was defrauded, even if it was counted as bribery, it was an attempt and should be dealt with lightly.Prosecutors said that the payment of the money means that the bribery has been completed.
The second trial of Chen Zuyuan's case also showed that around the middle of 2015, he regained his freedom.Prosecutors did not charge him with bribery at the time.
The industrial and commercial registration information of Anyuan Holdings may be used as evidence.On December 4, 2014, the legal representative and chairman of the company were changed from Chen Zuyuan to Zhang Xiaohua.On October 23, 2015, the company's legal representative and chairman were restored to Chen Zuyuan.
Chen Zuyuan was later detained again because the procuratorate instituted a supplementary prosecution against him.
The prosecution also accused Chen Zuyuan of 900,000 yuan and 1 million Hong Kong dollars in bribes to Luo Ou, former deputy secretary-general of the Guangdong Provincial Government and former director of the Provincial Anti-Privacy Office, through a company he actually controlled.Chen Zuyuan has no objection to the above bribery facts.Luo Ou was sentenced to life imprisonment in November 2017, and the total amount of bribes identified in the judgment was 114 million yuan.
Chen Zuyuan has a successful precedent in getting rid of official corruption cases.According to public information, Chen Zuyuan had previously bribed 32 million yuan to Hu Xing, the former deputy director of the Yunnan Provincial Department of Communications, and 6 million Hong Kong dollars to Chen Zhenggui, the former general manager of Kunming Urban Construction Investment and Development Co., Ltd.In 2007, Hu Xing was sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime of accepting bribes, and Chen Zhenggui was also sentenced to 18 years in prison for the crime of offering and accepting bribes.The Chen family is far from being held criminally responsible.
This time, Chen Zuyuan was accused of bribery by the unit.He said that he had surrendered himself and made meritorious service, and his defense lawyer also asked the court for a suspended sentence.The procuratorate insisted that the sentencing of the first instance was reasonable and appropriate.■
