Shanghai tycoon probe may lead to more convictions

By Cao Li (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-15 07:23

SHANGHAI: A fraud investigation involving highway tycoon Liu Genshan could lead to charges against other senior officials within the Yangtze River Delta region, a Beijing-based paper has said.

Liu, 51, an investor in seven highways in Shanghai and Zhejiang province and property in Shanghai has "confessed a lot" since he was arrested about a month ago, an anonymous source said to be close to the case told China Business Newspaper.

"What he confessed was more than the case itself," the source was quoted as saying.

Liu, who was a close friend of Shanghai's axed Party chief Chen Liangyu, has wide connections with many senior officials in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, and Shanghai, the newspaper said.

Cai Jidong, the former director of the Zhejiang traffic department and a long-time friend of Liu, left his job last year to work for Liu. He was paid 1 million yuan ($145,000) a year, the report said.

Through Cai, Liu got to know Feng Shunqiao, former Party secretary of Shaoxing; Zhao Zhanqi, director of the Zhejiang provincial bureau of communications; and several other senior officials in the province.

Allegedly, with their help, Liu won four highway projects in the province in 1999, including Nanhuan, Ningbo Ringroad, Beilungang and Yongjin. In Shanghai, he has invested in three highways - Huqingping, Hujialiu and Tongsan. The length of the roads adds up to more than 900 km.

Zhao Zhanqi was sentenced to life imprisonment last year for corruption and Feng Shunqiao was under shuanggui, a process by which a Party member is asked to confess to wrongdoings at a stipulated place and time.

A crackdown on corruption in Zhejiang province's traffic system led to Liu's downfall, the Economic Observer News said. Liu has been observed since early this year, it said.

Liu was arrested by the Zhejiang public security bureau on June 5.

Anonymous sources said both Zhejiang police and a team from Beijing are conducting an investigation.

The unnamed source said the focus of the investigation is in Zhejiang province, but it could be expanded to Shanghai, as Liu had many connections in Shanghai when Chen Liangyu was the Party chief.

Another anonymous source told China Business that Liu was a close friend of Zhou Zhengyi, the imprisoned property magnate.