Former disciplinary inspector at Chinese tobacco regulator indicted for graft

BEIJING -- Pan Jiahua, a former senior disciplinary inspector at China's State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, has been indicted on charges of taking bribes, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Thursday.

Pan was formerly the chief of the disciplinary inspection team sent by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China to the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and a member of the leading Party members' group of the administration.

Pan's case has been filed by the People's Procuratorate of Hefei, Anhui Province, to the city's intermediate people's court.

Prosecutors accused Pan of taking advantage of his various posts to seek benefits for others and accepting huge sums of money and gifts in return.

The SPP said the prosecutors had informed the defendant of his litigation rights, interrogated him and listened to the defense counsel's opinions.