Liu Zhijun associate charged

Business owner linked to former railway minister accused of graft By ZHAO LEI zhaolei@chinadaily.迷你倉新蒲崗com.cn A businesswoman linked to the corruption case against China's former railway min- ister has been charged with bribery and illegal business activities, sources with the Beijing prosecution authority coni rmed on Saturday.The No 2 Beijing People'sProcuratorate i led the charg- es against Ding Shumiao of Shanxi province.The No 2 Beijing Inter- mediate People's Court has accepted the case, but a trial date has not been announced.Ding intervened in bidding for dozens of railway projects through railway ministry staf members and was reported to be engaged in illegal business operations valued at 178.8 bil- lion yuan ($29.21 billion), the statement said.h at amount of money was a quarter of the total railway investment nationwide in 2010 (707 billion yuan) and also close to the total i nancial revenue of Shanxi province in 2010 (181 billion yuan).Starting from a small business of selling eggs, the 58-year-old Ding established a business empire at er more than 30 years of struggle. In the 1980s, she began to invest in the coal business and then rail transport, according to media reports.Her businesses started to thrive at er she met Liu Zhi- jun, who was appointed rail- way minister in 2003 and was known as the driving force behind the country's high- speed railway network. Liu received a suspended death sentence in July for taking bribes and steering contracts to associates.From 2007 to 2010, Liu helped 23 businesses recom- mended by Ding win more than 50 railway construction contracts, pr迷你倉出租secutors said, adding that she then gave 49 million yuan to Liu. She also offered sexual favors to Liu by arranging an unidentii ed number of women for him, according to prosecutors.With Liu's assistance, Ding and her relatives amassed 4 billion yuan in profits from 2004 to 2010.Ding's lucrative business net was exposed in 2010 at er the auditing authority found a State-owned enterprise paid nearly 100 million yuan to Ding's company. Investiga- tors later found that she was closely connected to Liu. h e i nding led to Liu being placed under disciplinary inquiry.A number of oi cials in the railway ministry were also charged with corruption and abuse of power.Zhang Shuguang, a former senior oi cial at the ministry, was charged on Tuesday with accepting more than 47 mil- lion yuan in bribes over 11 years. h e next day, Su Shun- hu, another high-level oi cial at the ministry, stood trial in a Beijing court on charges of receiving more than 24 mil- lion yuan in bribes."In the past, those who offered bribes to officials would only be given light punishment or even exempt- ed from conviction," said Wu Hui, an associate professor specializing in governance at the Party School of CPC Central Committee. "Now, through Ding's case, the gov- ernment shows it is serious in addressing the corruption problem from its root."He added it is important for all of society to cultivate the notion that those who of er bribes should feel shame and be punished.Ding Shumiao, a businesswoman involved in former railway minister Liu Zhijun's case, has been charged with bribery and illegal business activities.迷你倉