Corrupt gains subject to seizure, even after death

The People's Procuratorate in Jiangsu province released the details of China's first case of confiscating the illegal gains of a senior official who died during the investigation.

The official, Ren Runhou, had been vice-governor of Shanxi province. In September 2014 he was dismissed by the Communist Party of China for serious violations of discipline, and he died of an illness 10 days later.

Appointed by the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Jiangsu procuratorate launched an investigation into the case. It sorted out 278 bank accounts, freezing more than 23 million yuan ($3.3 million) of deposits and 3.1 million yuan in cash. Prosecutors also seized 155 valuable items and some foreign currency deposits.

They also visited more than 170 places and interviewed 160 witnesses to confirm the amount of Ren's illegal gains.

In December 2016, prosecutors in Yangzhou, Jiangsu, filed an application with the court for confiscation of the illegal gains based on special procedures involving unlawful gains. Those rules were issued in 2012, when China amended its Criminal Procedure Law.

In July 2017, the court confiscated Ren's illegal gains, which included 300,000 yuan from bribery, 12.65 million yuan for the crime of holding a large amount of property with unidentified sources, some foreign currency and 135 pieces of jewelry and other items.

Wan Long, director of the third procuratorial department of the Jiangsu procuratorate, described the whole process of this case on Thursday. Wan said the escape or death of a suspect in the past would have led to the case being dismissed, as the law is not specific about confiscation under those circumstances.

But the procedures for confiscation of unlawful gains made it clear that the procuratorate can submit an application to a court for confiscation even if the suspects don't show up in court after they escape or die, Wan said.

Li Min, a lawyer from the Nanjing office of Tiantai Law Firm, said even if a suspect has died and illegal gains have been inherited by his or her relatives or converted into other property, the converted property can also be treated as an illegal gain and can be confiscated.

Yu Xinshui, deputy procurator general of the Jiangsu procuratorate, said the introduction of procedures for confiscation of unlawful gains will further alert potential corrupt officials, as it shows that the country has zero tolerance for corruption.

Guo Jun contributed to this story.