6 senior Guangdong officials punished for embezzlement

Six high-level officials from Guangdong province received their sentences for embezzlement on Saturday, state media reported. The provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection announced that all six had used public money to fund gambling habits. Wu Kuixing, former vice-secretary of the Communist Party’s Yunfu City Committee received the stiffest sentence: four years for losing public money on cruises in Hong Kong, betting on soccer and playing mahjong. Wu lost US$76,000 on soccer bets alone. Huang Pingfang, former vice-secretary of the Party’s Zhaoqing City Committee, was convicted of both gambling with public funds and taking bribes totalling US$438,000. His punishment has yet to be announced. Huang Guohui, secretary of a Guangzhou village Party branch, got three years for gambling and was expelled from the party. Other officials were put on probation or expelled from the Party. Zhao Zhenhua, vice-secretary of the discipline commission, said that 53 officials have been investigated to date for rolling the dice with a total of US$3.2 million of public money.