Shanghai graft probe widens with another official implicated
The Shanghai corruption scandal that has already seen the fall of the financial hub's top politician has been widened, with confirmation that another senior government official had been implicated.
Sun Luyi, vice secretary-general of the Shanghai municipal committee, had "seriously violated party discipline" and was now assisting the probe into the misuse of the city's pension funds, spokeswoman Jiao Yang told AFP.
Sun, 52, an engineer, was appointed to his position with the committee, which is the Communist Party's main governing body for Shanghai, in 2004.
The development comes after central government officials announced on Monday that Shanghai Communist Party leader Chen Liangyu had been sacked and suspended from the national politburo for his role in the pension fund scandal.
The probe centers on the alleged misuse of up to 400 million dollars from Shanghai's 1.2-billion-dollar pension fund.
Another person who may be implicated is Shanghai police chief Wu Zhiming, believed to be the nephew of former president Jiang Zemin, a source with close contacts to the government told AFP.
"He is being questioned. Expect this case to come out (publicly)," said the source.
Wu, 54, is chief of Shanghai's public security bureau and is the bureau's Communist Party secretary, according to the city's government website.
He is also a member of the city's standing committee, an elite and powerful group of party officials that govern the city, according to the website.
However, a government spokesman denied that Wu had been detained, while a police spokesman said only he had gone abroad but recently returned.
"I'm not sure if he is back at work yet... but in a few days you will know whether he will return to his normal work," said the police spokesman.
The dismissal of Chen was the highest-level sacking of a government official in more than a decade, and a Communist Party discipline chief said in Beijing on Tuesday to expect more high-profile names to be implicated.
"This case is still under investigation... as the investigation deepens, more people are likely to be implicated," Gan Yisheng, vice head of the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, told reporters.
"We will investigate thoroughly and severely punish any party member who violates party discipline, no matter how high or how low his position."
The scandal has already felled two other top politicians -- Qin Yu, a city district chief, and Zhu Junyi, who was head of the labor and social affairs bureau in Shanghai and a national parliament member.
The chairman and a director of Shanghai Electric, a major power products producer, as well as a private fund manager are also under investigation.
Chen's sacking has been widely seen as a power play by President Hu Jintao to weaken the political stronghold of Jiang, his predecessor, and shore up his own position.
Before retiring in 2003, Jiang, who also once served as Shanghai's top party official, named many of his allies into positions of leadership.
Chen was one such ally. Others include Vice Premier Huang Ju, parliamentary chairman Wu Bangguo and Vice President Zeng Qinghong.
The so-called "Shanghai clique" has been seen as a challenge to Hu's rule, with the president determined to solidify his own position ahead of an important five-yearly Communist Party Congress late next year.
AFP
