On May 31, Jiang Dandan, the daughter of corrupt former Shenzhen official Jiang Zunyu, was brought before the Guangzhou Intermediate Court to face charges of accepting RMB70,000 in bribes and a Porsche, worth RMB840,000.
At the highest point in his career, her father was a member of the municipal Party Standing Committee, as well as Secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Politics and Law Commission. In 2014 he came under investigation for misusing his post and his court case in mid-May of this year revealed that he had taken a staggering RMB70 million in bribes.
During the hearing it also came out that his daughter, Dandan, had been a willing channel for some of that money. She had accepted some extremely large gifts from her father’s business friends, although Jiang Zunyu testified that she was not aware of the under-the-table deals that led to the extravagant gestures.
One of her father’s friends, Li Weiping, was a real estate dealer who had been acquainted with the family since 1990. Throughout their relationship, the elder Jiang helped Weiping with several projects and Dandan had grown up calling him “uncle.”
In return, Li doted on the official’s daughter: each Chinese New Year, the hong bao’s she received from him always contained at least RMB10,000. When Dandan decided to pursue her studies abroad, Li sent her mother a sum of HKD1.2 million to help pay for her schooling. For Jiang Dandan’s wedding, Li outdid himself with a gift of six gold bars, together worth RMB980,000, and a pair of diamond rings.
Former official Jiang Zunyu
Another real estate businessman who had also benefited from her father’s help sent Dandan a Porsche as a wedding gift. Jiang Zunyu, however, thought the Porsche was “too showy” and sold it to Li Weiping for RMB800,000. The money was put directly in Dandan’s bank account.
Dandan was also implicated in at least two other exchanges: she accepted a 55 percent discount on a property worth RMB7 million, in addition to RMB70,000 sent to her by her father’s subordinate, Tian Xiaohong, on Chinese New Year.
Jiang Zunyu has been found guilty of misusing his position as far back as 2004, when he was vice secretary-general of Shenzhen’s municipal government. As he steadily climbed the political ladder and his power increased, his illicit deals became more and more daring.
Dandan immediately gave herself up when faced with the accusations of accepting bribes. Prosecutors say her punishment will be lighter because of her willingness to cooperate. She was released from police custody before the trial and currently awaits the court's decision.
Her bribery case comes on the heels of another corruption-related hearing that took place in Shenzhen this past Monday, where a local official in Longgang was accused of taking RMB8 million in bribes, as well as helping his mistress set up a profitable business.
[Photo via NetEase.com, SZNews.com]
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