Zhejiang Extraordinary Bribery Case: Corrupt officials collect money for almost every project.
Taking stock of the anti-corruption achievements in Zhejiang Province in 2008, He Wei, the former deputy director of the Planning and Finance Department of Zhejiang Sports Bureau, who demanded bribes of more than 6.89 million yuan, "inadvertently" became the first person in Zhejiang Province to be sentenced to death and suspended for two years for accepting bribes that year. Tian Miaofa, one of the contractors who paid bribes to He Wei, "carelessly" has also become the most severely punished briber for bribery in Zhejiang Province in recent years. In the Spring Festival of 2009, when people celebrated the New Year with joy, He Wei, who had already served his sentence in prison, repeatedly chewed his yesterday and today-"it’s all the fault of greed"!
From the perspective of this extraordinarily large bribery case and the analysis of the "special relationship" between the briber and the briber in the field of engineering construction, it is not difficult to conclude that the briber is actually the grave digger of the briber.
Bribery life: He Wei is so greedy that he always complains to us that he doesn’t even have money for tea. Sometimes when he sees the high-grade cigarettes smoked by other bosses, he also asks for them on the spot.
Zhou, the briber: When I received a phone call from He Wei, I was so jumpy that I later had a nervous breakdown.
Tian Miao, a big briber: you can get the other party with money, get the project and make a lot of money.
He Wei, the bribe-taker: Who will think too much money? Who doesn’t take something for nothing? !
Wang Yu, the prosecutor handling the case: I have done many cases of accepting bribes, but it is the first time that a corrupt official like He Wei has to collect money for almost every project.
1 From "politely" accepting bribes to asking for bribes
He Wei grew up in a family with superior economic conditions and was cared for by his family. He grew up smoothly. In 1984, he was admitted to Nanjing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture, majoring in civil engineering, and stayed there as a teaching assistant for five years after graduation. If He Wei had been content with the tranquility of the campus, perhaps he would have become a professor in the construction industry, and he would not have come this far.
However, He Wei thinks that being a teacher has a future and no "money way". In June, 1993, he left Nanjing Institute of Architecture and Engineering and went to a real estate company in Hangzhou to work as a project manager, that is, a contractor. The following year, he jumped to a construction engineering company and still worked as a contractor. A year later, he moved to a state-owned real estate company in Zhejiang Province. After three job-hopping in three years, He Wei didn’t earn much money, but he successfully realized the transformation from a university teacher to a civil engineering engineer, and also learned a lot of "hidden rules" of bribery in the field of engineering and construction.
Perhaps because of the signboard of "civil construction engineer", in December 1996, He Wei successfully entered the Planning and Finance Department of Zhejiang Sports Bureau and became a civil servant. At that time, Zhejiang Sports Bureau, which had just been established, undertook the great task of leading Zhejiang sports industry to take off. A large number of sports projects were to be built, and engineering and construction professionals were very scarce. He Wei, who knows architecture, is naturally entrusted with an important task, specifically responsible for the implementation of the project. Although he is only a clerk, He Wei’s actual weight is no less than that of the director, even better than that of the deputy director in charge. He can have the final say in the project management and fund settlement of infrastructure projects in the bureau.
At the end of 1997, many sports projects in Zhejiang Province were prepared one after another. He Wei quickly entered the "role" and received 10,000 yuan from the contractor Chen Mou politely at home in a few days, and tasted the sweetness of power for the first time. In the Spring Festival of 1998, when He Wei received a 20,000 yuan "New Year greeting gift" from the contractor Zhao for the second time, he began to save the "guest words". By the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2000, when He Wei received the 50,000 yuan "festival fee" from Zhao for the third time, he didn’t even look at it, but put it on the coffee table with his hand.
In September 2001, with the construction of Zhejiang Sports Training Center in Qianjiang Science and Education City, Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou, He Wei’s channels for accepting bribes were wider. He began to be dissatisfied with the tens of thousands of yuan collected during the Chinese New Year holiday, but took the initiative to attack and ask for bribes. At that time, an architectural design institute in Hangzhou was actively striving for the design business of Xiaoshan sports training base, and found He Wei to help. He Wei took a fancy to a newly bought car in Changshou, the hospital, and took this new car of nearly 150,000 yuan as his own in the name of borrowing. Until the incident, this car has not been returned to Shoumou.
He Wei, who has a car, soon proposed to Shoumou to match a parking space. Shoumou had no choice but to pay 160 thousand yuan from the unit to buy an underground parking space for He Wei in the name of He Wei’s wife Wang.
In February 2006, He Wei became the deputy director of the Planning and Finance Department of Zhejiang Sports Bureau and the deputy director of the Bureau’s Infrastructure Office. His power in his hands was even greater and his appetite was even greater. On August 12th of the same year, He Wei asked a design institute in Hangzhou for a bribe of 250,000 yuan from Shou and others. Soon after, he asked Jiang of the design institute for 120,000 yuan. Shoumou testified: "He Wei is so greedy that he always complains to us that he doesn’t even have money for tea. Sometimes he sees high-grade cigarettes smoked by other bosses, and he also asks for them on the spot. " Wang Yu, director of the Public Prosecution Division of the Hangzhou Procuratorate, who undertook the case, admitted frankly that he had handled many bribery cases, but it was the first time for a corrupt official like He Wei who had to collect money for almost every project.
Zhou, a female contractor, was even more frightened by He Wei’s request for bribes. She said to the prosecutor: "When I received a phone call from He Wei, I was so jumpy that I was nervous afterwards." In October 2005, He Wei asked her for 300,000 yuan for the first time. At the end of that year, He Wei asked her for 350,000 yuan, and Zhou, who wanted He Wei in the payment of the project, had to give it. In the first half of 2006, He Wei directly asked Zhou for 300,000 yuan and 390,000 yuan twice. In 2007, He Wei asked Zhou for 400,000 yuan on the grounds that he had no money to spend. From 2005 to 2007, He Wei asked Zhou for a total of 1.74 million yuan, not including the 20,000 yuan offered by Zhou.
Asking for bribes directly in the form of "crying poor" has gradually become the main way for He Wei to accept bribes. Among the 6.89 million yuan of bribes verified and identified, his bribes amounted to 5.73 million yuan! In fact, He Wei’s family condition is very good, and he can achieve a "well-off" only by the normal income of Zhejiang Sports Bureau. However, as He Wei himself said: "Who will think too much money? Who doesn’t take something for nothing? !” In a word, taking bribes has long been the "motto" of this briber.
Money is the "passport" for bribers to get the project.
For many engineering contractors, He Wei, who holds the power of infrastructure projects, is undoubtedly their "food and clothing parents", and "bribery" has undoubtedly become their "passport" to obtain projects.
Take the Xiaoshan Sports Training Center project in Zhejiang Province with a civil project budget of 300 million yuan and a total investment budget of nearly 900 million yuan as an example. This huge project with a total area of more than 310,000 square meters and a total construction area of more than 140,000 square meters will build track and field, football field, tennis court, volleyball court, basketball court, archery field, indoor track and field training hall, swimming and diving hall, competitive gymnasium, table tennis hall, comprehensive training hall and other related supporting facilities. Construction started in 2001, and projects are still under construction. In the face of such an attractive "super cake", the reporter found that the "unique skill" of the contractor is to pay bribes.
A membrane structure engineering company in Hangzhou had no chance to win the membrane structure project of Xiaoshan Sports Training Center in terms of qualification or strength, but Xu, the manager of the company, bribed He Wei with 140,000 yuan, 1,000 euros and a valuable watch, and successfully undertook a large number of projects. Chen Mou of another company can successfully contract many construction projects of Xiaoshan Sports Training Center and get the project payment on time, which is not unrelated to his constant "burning incense" to He Wei. Although he Wei received a total of 1,072,700 yuan, 5,000 US dollars and 20,000 Hong Kong dollars from Chen Mou, 962,700 yuan belonged to He Wei who asked Chen Mou for New Year greetings and other reasons. However, He Wei said to the prosecutor handling the case: "Chen Mou’s bribery has really brought our relationship closer, which not only increased my impression of him in the bid evaluation, but also made me support him without hesitation in the project payment."
Xu Mou, a paint supplier, Xia Mou, a salesman of an engineering consulting company, and Lu Mou, the general manager of a fire safety technology company … gave He Wei 5,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan to get a piece of the Xiaoshan Sports Training Center project. The "successful demonstration effect" of these bribers attracts more contractors to join the ranks of bribery. Tian Miaofa is one of the "big bribers".
Tian Miaofa, who graduated from primary school, heard that many people made a fortune contracting the relevant projects of Xiaoshan Sports Training Center, and also started the idea of contracting projects. Through He Wei’s mother-in-law, Tian Miaofa met this powerful figure. In the first half of 2003, when He Wei’s father was hospitalized, Tian Miaofa went to visit and was asked to pay 10,000 yuan by He Wei. This makes Tian Miaofa understand that He Wei is not a "risk-averse", and also makes him firmly believe that "you can get the other party, get the project and earn a lot of money with money".
Tian Miaofa doesn’t have a construction company of his own, so he took the way of linking to undertake the project. He Wei, who is well aware of this obvious violation of regulations, not only did not stop it, but actively provided convenience for Tian Miaofa. In the second half of 2003, with the help of He Wei, Tian Miaofa undertook the projects of table tennis hall and tennis court in Xiaoshan Sports Training Center without bidding procedures. However, at the end of the year, He Wei asked Tian Miaofa for 200,000 yuan.
At the beginning of 2004, He Wei resolved the throwing pavilion project with a project cost of more than 2.8 million yuan, which should have been invited for bidding, and changed it to internal negotiation. In the bidding negotiation, Tian Miaofa instructed others to raise the bidding amount of other units, and used the bidding documents forged by others’ private seals to negotiate the bidding, and obtained the project through He Wei by means of linking and contracting. He Wei provided convenience for Tian Miaofa when the project payment was settled, and the final settlement price of the project reached more than 3.7 million yuan. At the beginning of 2005, Tian Miaofa gave 500,000 yuan in cash to He Wei to show his gratitude.
What Tian Miaofa didn’t expect was that in March 2006, He Wei bought a house in Xiaoshan in the name of his mother Zhang, and used this as an excuse to ask Tian Miaofa for more than 2.29 million yuan. Thinking of taking care of He Wei in the future, Tian Miaofa borrowed money from He Wei to buy a house despite his wife’s opposition. In this way, inadvertently, Tian Miaofa became the "largest family" who paid bribes to He Wei, and also became the most severely punished briber in Zhejiang Province in recent years for bribery.
Warning: The briber is the grave digger of the briber.
Walking on the road of accepting bribes, He Wei was flattered by his smoothness. Occasionally, he was at a loss and had the idea of stopping crime, but greed quickly gained the upper hand. In search of excitement, He Wei fell in love with gambling. He often hangs out in chess rooms and mahjong parlors in Hangzhou. If he loses, he will call those contractors to pay the bill. After a period of time, at least there will be 50,000 yuan. Later, he went to Macau to gamble with bosses who wanted him, and he accepted a gambling chip of HK$ 10,000 from one boss at a time.
With the increasing amount of bribes, He Wei began to think about preserving and increasing the value of the money. He wanted to plan the future for his daughter who was still in primary school: to study abroad and have food and clothing … Besides investing in real estate, he also bought funds in the name of his wife and others …
He is not worried that he will have an accident, because there is no problem with the quality of the project undertaken by Tian Miaofa and others, and he also won the "Qianjiang Cup". He naively believes that since those contractors who pay bribes have also received corresponding benefits, they will "live in harmony" with him and naturally will not report him. No one reported it, so who can find out about themselves except you and me?
It was not until December 21, 2007 that He Wei was put on file for investigation by the Hangzhou Procuratorate that he woke up like a dream: If you want others to know, you must do it yourself.
On January 22, 2008, Tian Miaofa surrendered himself to the Hangzhou Procuratorate and was detained on the same day. On July 29th of the same year, the day after He Wei’s 43rd birthday, the Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court made a first-instance judgment on He Wei’s bribery case and Tian Miaofa’s bribery case: As a national staff member, He Wei used his power to ask for and illegally accept other people’s property, with a cumulative amount of 6.89 million yuan, and sought illegal benefits for others, which constituted a crime of accepting bribes; In the project undertaking and construction, Tian Miaofa violated state regulations, gave He Wei more than 3 million yuan in money in order to seek illegitimate interests, and actually obtained illegitimate interests, which constituted a crime of bribery. Most of the property obtained by He Wei is a bribe, which should be severely punished. He Wei was sentenced to death for accepting bribes, suspended for two years, and confiscated all personal property; Tian Miaofa was sentenced to seven years in prison for bribery.
After the judgment of the first instance, He Wei and Tian Miaofa refused to accept the appeal. Not long ago, the Zhejiang Provincial High Court made a final ruling dismissing the appeal and upholding the original judgment.
The field of engineering construction has always been a high-incidence area of bribery cases. It is understood that bribery crimes in this field account for more than 60% of bribery crimes investigated and dealt with by procuratorial organs. This case can be said to be a typical sample.
On the eve of the Spring Festival this year, Director Wang Yu said in an interview with reporters that He Wei’s criminal path is related to his low personal quality, greedy nature and weak legal concept, but it is undeniable that the over-concentration of power and lack of substantive supervision are also important factors leading to the final fall of a cadre with a light position and weight. However, Tian Miaofa dares to challenge the law, largely because the explicit "hidden rules" in the current engineering construction are playing a catalytic role. "These’ hidden rules’ have shaken the fair and just competition environment in the engineering construction market, poisoned the social atmosphere, made a large number of effective systems not implemented, laws and regulations exist in name only, the project bidding process is full of loopholes, and subcontracting is endless, making power and money transactions inevitable." For example, Wang Yu said that He Wei is not only the owner, but also an expert in bidding. Who is responsible for this obvious "wrong design"? Wang Yu, in combination with some cases he handled, also found that He Wei’s practice of circumventing the bidding law and turning the project into zero still exists in a large number in the current engineering field, which cannot but attract the attention of relevant departments. (Fan Yuehong)
Editor: Liu Li

























