Discipline watchdog finds corruption among its members

Editor's note: The newest three-episode anti-corruption documentary, produced by the top discipline watchdog the Communist Party of China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, offers the public its first full look inside the stories of these corrupt discipline officials.

"I never dreamed that I would have the guts to take such a large amount in bribes."

 

Jin Daoming, 63, former head of the discipline and inspection agency in Shanxi province

Jin was sentenced to life in prison for accepting bribes valued at more than 123 million yuan ($17.9 million). In the documentary, Jin said he was shocked when investigators told him the bribes he took amounted to such a large sum.

In return for the bribes, Jin abused his authority to meddle with the administrative examination and approval process when he was a senior Party and government official in the province from 2007 to 2014. Most of his bribes came from local coal mine investors.

Jin said he violated laws and disciplines of the Party, and that he had to bear the legal responsibility.

"I could not stop (taking bribes) once the Pandora's box was opened."

Yuan Weihua, 37, a former official at the CCDI's No 6 disciplinary inspection office.

 

As a former corruption investigator, Yuan had participated in the investigations of many major Party and government officials.

He was caught revealing confidential information to corrupt officials who either were already or were about to be investigated.

In return, these officials helped Yuan's father to get contracts on projects valued at more than 1 billion yuan. Yuan asked his father to write a will bequeathing him all his properties, according to the documentary.

He stood trial on Dec 15 and now awaits the court's verdict.

"I asked other officials to be clean and honest in meetings, but I, myself, was a corrupt official."

Zhu Mingguo, 59, former chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

 

Zhu was convicted of accepting large bribes totaling 141 million yuan when he was in office. He was found to own properties worth more than 91 million yuan the source of which he could not identify.

He received a suspended death sentence in October 2016.

"Once when I had taken the first bribe, 100,000 yuan, I could not refuse the following 100,000 yuan, 1 million yuan ..." said Zhu, who was also once former head of the Guangdong provincial discipline inspection agency.

Zhu was also found to have built two luxury villas in his hometown in Hainan province with the bribes he accepted.