(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-31 10:47

HAIKOU - A board chairman of a state owned enterprise in south China's Hainan Province has been arrested for gambling away more than 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million) of public funds, according to local discipline sources.

Zhu Dehua, 60, board chairman of the Gas Administration Corporation of Haikou, capital of Hainan, was convicted of embezzling more than 10.84 million yuan (US$1.5 million) from public coffers, in which 1.95 million yuan had not been repaid, local prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Zhu once served as vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the local legislature, Haikou City People's Congress.

He became addicted to gambling since he was brought by a merchant to the Casino Lisboa in Macao, one of the world's most famous casino resorts, for the first time in 2001.

Between 2001 and 2007, Zhu lost over 13 million yuan during 120 gambling trips to Macao and Hong Kong, said the prosecutors.

Cases of government officials who gamble with public funds have given rise to public concerns and complaints. The government has conducted a nationwide crackdown over the past three years to punish civil servants who squander public funds in gambling trips abroad.