3 former officials expelled from Party on suspicion of graft, rule violations

Three former officials — Du Zhaocai, Yin Meigen and Liu Liange — have been expelled from the Communist Party of China for severely violating disciplines and for allegedly participating in graft, according to China's top anti-corruption watchdogs.

Du and Yin have also been dismissed from public office for the violations, according to the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision on Saturday.

The commissions said they found that Du, former deputy head of the General Administration of Sport of China, betrayed his ideals and beliefs, resisted investigations into his violations and engaged in superstitious activities.

He is accused of illegally accepting gifts and money, failing to report his personal matters as required and lying while being interviewed about the alleged crimes.

Du also allegedly took advantage of his posts to seek profits for others in business operations and employee recruitment, and then accepted huge amounts of money and valuables in return.

"His behavior has seriously violated Party disciplines, so we decided to remove him from the Party and public office," the commissions said in a statement.

Yin, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of Jiangxi Provincial People's Congress, was also found to have had turned his back on his ideals. He is accused of participating in superstitious activities and illegally accepting gifts and money.

In addition, Yin was discovered to have visited luxurious private venues, a violation of Party rules. He is also accused of accepting cash and property from others illegally, using his money and power to procure sex and meddling in market activities and law enforcement.

Furthermore, Yin allegedly colluded with corrupt private business owners to earn money illegally, accepting massive sums in return for using his post to help others earn work contracts and promotions.

"His case will be transferred to prosecutors for further review for suspected crimes, with confiscation of his illegal gains," the watchdogs said.

As for Liu, former Party chief and president of the Bank of China, he was expelled from the Party after it was discovered that he may have used his power to seriously interfere in credit projects and illegally issue loans, causing significant financial risks. He is also accused of seeking profits for others in financing and project cooperation, and accepted large amounts of money and gifts in return.

"In line with the Party rules and laws, we made the decision to expel him from the Party," the commissions said. "We've also decided to confiscate his illicit gains and hand over his case to prosecutors for review."

"His qualification as a delegate to the 20th CPC National Congress was also terminated," they added.

All three former officials were placed under investigation for severe suspected violations of disciplines and laws early this year.