On March 8, 1999, li Guoting, the then 73-year-old "smoke king", was taken down by the police who had been squatting for many days after hiding for a year.
As early as 1998, the Hebei Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection received reports on Li Guoting's embezzlement and bribery case.
After several days of investigation, the Hebei Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection determined that the cigarette factory managed by Li Guoting had an overproduction income of up to 460 million yuan.
After that, Li Guoting hid in Tibet, living only half an hour's drive from the provincial public security department, but was finally arrested at the home of a widow's relative.
Li Guoting is destined to be entangled with women in this life, and his suspected huge case of 460 million yuan is also related to a woman.
Gone astray by jealousy
Looking back at Li Guoting's life, it is not difficult to find that he can be called a "late success" on the road of corruption and corruption.
In 1926, Li Guoting was born into a small family in old China.
When most of the Chinese could not eat, Li Guoting's family even had money for him to study.
Li Guoting completed his studies intermittently in the war, and after graduating from high school, he did not continue his studies.
After liberation, Li Guoting, who had a high Chinese, was assigned to work in the Zhangjiakou Cigarette Factory, and he could be described as conscientious when he first arrived at his post.
During his work in the cigarette factory, Li Guoting achieved remarkable results, and built "Welcome", "Shanhaiguan", "Beidaihe" and so on into a best-selling brand.
In 1981, the leadership team of Zhangjiakou Cigarette Factory changed, and Li Guoting naturally became the director of the cigarette factory.
At this time, Li Guoting has become the leader of the cigarette factory, but he still has not thought of using his power to seek benefits for himself.
When the new official took office, Li Guoting drastically improved the production system and management process of the cigarette factory and improved production efficiency.
He also spoke out for all cigarette factory employees, improved the welfare of employees, and fought for the greatest interests of the factory.
When Li Guoting was mentioned in Zhangjiakou Cigarette Factory, almost all the employees would give him a thumbs up and praise him as a "good factory director".
Therefore, when he was convicted of embezzlement and bribery, the old employees of the cigarette factory were all surprised.
In 1986, Li Guoting turned sixty and reached retirement age, and he could have died in a cigarette factory.
However, due to the extremely high economic benefits created for the cigarette factory during his tenure as the director of the factory, his superiors wanted him to continue to stay in office.
Li Guoting was very touched by the retention of the superior leaders, and without saying a word, he gave up retirement and continued to work for the cigarette factory.
In 1991, Li Guoting met Yan Manchang, a self-employed businessman, and under Yan Manchang's deliberate flattery, the relationship between the two became increasingly close.
About a year later, Yan Manchang proposed to Li Guoting that he wanted to wholesale some over-produced cigarettes from the Zhangjiakou Cigarette Factory.
Li Guoting felt that the relationship between the two was in place, so he acquiesced to this proposal and provided Yan Manchang with various brand-name cigarettes in violation of the law.
In just six years, Yan Manchang got 170 million yuan worth of overproduced cigarettes through Li Guoting.
After all the cigarettes were sold, Yan Manchang made a profit of more than 40 million yuan from it, earning a lot of oil.
However, this huge amount of money did not have much to do with Li Guoting, and he did not get any considerable benefits from it.
He looked at the dividends in Yan Manchang's hand and thought of his salary of more than a thousand yuan per month, and his heart was extremely unbalanced.
Jealousy, like seaweed, constantly entangled Li Guoting, eventually leading him to the path of corruption and bribery.
Millions of dollars from "overproduction of tobacco"
In 1997, Li Guoting's re-employment career was coming to an end, and he was about to hand over the power of the factory director.
His inner desires have been opened, and he is not willing to step down, and he secretly tells himself in his heart that he must make a sharp profit.
In March of the same year, Li Guoting secretly met With Yan Manchang, who had a close relationship with him.
On the same day, he instructed the driver to stop alone, but he walked toward Yan Manchang's house in the opposite direction of the parking place.
Yan Manchang waited at home for a long time, and as soon as he saw Li Guoting, he immediately offered all the $150,000 he had prepared.
Li Guoting stroked the $150,000 he was going to come with a single word, and the beast called desire in his heart was stirring.
He suddenly found that he could have earned a higher income and lived a better life.
Only before, he had been "bound" by the principles of Communist Party members, and he did not dare or willing to take the first step in corruption.
Now he has gained benefits much higher than his monthly salary without much effort, and the huge gap has made his faith begin to loosen.
Determined to take the road of corruption, Li Guoting's appetite gradually grew, and after that, he asked Yan Manchang for bribes several times.
Every time he met Yan Manchang, Li Guoting was very careful and never let his driver follow.
By the time of his arrest, Li Guoting had received a total of 1.95 million yuan and 370,000 U.S. dollars by voluntarily asking for a "gift" from Yan Manchang.
After that, Li Guoting repeated the trick and moved the transaction with Yan Manchang to Wang Weiguo, a former salesman of the Shijiazhuang Tobacco and Liquor Company.
Li Guoting took advantage of his position to illegally approve cigarettes from the cigarette factory to Wang Weiguo and carried out unplanned production several times.
From March 1997 to October 1997, in just seven months, Wang Weiguo earned more than 8 million yuan.
Of course, 2.48 million yuan of the 8 million yuan was taken by Wang Weiguo to "honor" Li Guoting.
In addition to using overproduced cigarettes to accept bribes from individual businessmen, Li Guoting also put his hand on embezzling public funds.
By turning his left hand to his right hand, Li Guoting appropriated all the 1.995 million yuan of public funds used by the cigarette factory to purchase labor clothes.
Without the consent of other leaders in the factory, Li Guoting repeatedly "lent" the funds of the cigarette factory to other companies.
According to statistics, he has poured out 14 million yuan of funds in recent years, all of which are used for the operation of other private enterprises.
In February 1998, Xu Shi noticed that the wind was gradually tightening, and he urged the managers of one of the companies to return 5 million yuan to the cigarette factory.
The remaining 9 million yuan of funds, until Li Guoting's arrest, has been stored in the Beijing Tianrun Trading Company involved in the case.
Partner with your lover to amass wealth
In the case of Li Guoting's embezzlement and bribery, in addition to himself, there is another figure that must be mentioned - his lover Feng Jiling.
Feng Jiling is more than twenty years younger than Li Guoting, and she was originally just an ordinary worker in the workshop of Zhangjiakou Cigarette Factory.
By chance, Li Guoting noticed this woman with outstanding posture, and he quickly set his sights on Feng Jiling.
In order to "pursue" Feng Jiling, Li Guoting used his position as factory director to promote her and transferred her from the workshop to the finance office.
Feng Jiling said that she wanted to continue her studies, and Li Guoting sponsored her to go out to study financial management without saying a word.
After graduation, she returned to the cigarette factory, and with the help of Li Guoting, she stepped step by step to the position of deputy director of the cigarette factory.
Feng Jiling herself is very smart, and she realizes that Li Guoting not only looks at her beauty, but also wants her to be her right and left hand.
After she began to manage the finances of the cigarette factory, she undoubtedly became Li Guoting's best "logistics department director".
Since Li Guoting's gray income mainly comes from overproduction of cigarettes, if you want to hide the sky and cross the sea, you must level the account.
Feng Jiling is the best at handling accounting problems, no matter how many overproduced cigarettes Li Guoting produces in violation of the law, she can make the books seamless.
As for the accounts that really could not be changed, Feng Jiling and Li Guoting simply did not stop and directly destroyed them.
With the help of Feng Jiling, Li Guoting is more comfortable and cooperates with individual merchants more frequently.
Li Guoting even thought that after he retired, he would directly hand over the power of the cigarette factory to Feng Jiling.
In this way, he can still "listen to the government", guide Feng Jiling in the dark, and control the every move of the cigarette factory.
However, he soon discovered that as Feng Jiling's power gradually increased, she began to be out of his control.
In 1993, through Yan Manchang, Feng Jiling set up an account for herself in Beijing dedicated to collecting money.
After that, she successively remitted public funds illegally embezzled from the cigarette factory in batches.
From 1992 to 1994, Feng Jiling took advantage of her position to take a total of 29.812 million yuan of public funds from the cigarette factory.
The money was all over the accounts in Beijing, and then Yan Manchang took them out and put them into Feng Jiling's personal account.
Li Guoting was vaguely aware of Feng Jiling's embezzlement of public funds, but he did not know the specific amount.
He only felt that Feng Jiling had changed, often quarreled with him, and his appetite was getting bigger and bigger, beyond his control.
Li Guoting gradually began to no longer trust Feng Jiling, and did not dare to hand over the power of the factory director to her.
He feared that Feng Jiling would continue to act recklessly after his retirement, which would eventually lead to his corrupt behavior being fully exposed.
Feng Jiling is a personal spirit, and she quickly realizes that Li Guoting is alienating her.
Feng Jiling, who felt that she could not get more benefits from Li Guoting, simply broke the jar and broke it, quarreled with Li Guoting, and took the opportunity to break up.
Not long after, Li Guoting was reported, and Feng Jiling, who heard the wind, did not have any nostalgia and ran fast.
In February 1998, Feng Jiling fled abroad with the huge amount of money embezzled from the cigarette factory over the years.
Arrested at the widow's relative's house
In 1998, after receiving a report about Li Guoting, the Hebei Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection rushed to his home and prepared to take him away for investigation.
To the surprise of the investigators, Li Guoting had received the news in advance, smeared oil on the soles of his feet, and slipped away.
At the same time, the subordinates with whom he had interests also disappeared without a trace, leaving no trace.
What is even more incomprehensible is that after investigation, the books of the cigarette factory over the years are as pure as a blank piece of paper, without any abnormality.
No problem is often the biggest problem, and the Hebei Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection realized that this time it was a hard bone that had to take time to gnaw.
After more than half a year of investigation, investigators found that the unplanned income of the cigarette factory was as high as 460 million yuan.
The approximate amount involved in the case has been obtained, but the Discipline Inspection Commission still lacks substantive evidence, and more importantly, they cannot find Li Guoting himself.
After much deliberation, the task force decided to invite Jun into the urn, and they pretended to evacuate and actually waited closely at various places.
At this time, Li Guoting's driver thought that the special case team had been evacuated and that he would no longer be in danger, and began to show his face with a big wave.
As soon as he came out, he was arrested on the spot by the task force, after which he confessed to a cigarette factory employee named Miao Ying.
Li Guoting's previous residence was indeed arranged by Miao Ying, and this place is only half an hour's drive from the provincial public security bureau.
When the comrades of the special case group racked their brains to find Li Guoting's hiding place, he leisurely drank tea and enjoyed flowers at home.
Not long after, Li Guoting vaguely felt that the original residence was somewhat unsafe, and asked Miao Ying to help him find a new place.
Miao Ying found Xia Mei, a widow in a certain city, after several twists and turns, and said that Li Guoting was a widowed old man, and asked Xia Mei to take him in temporarily.
In Xia Mei's home, Li Guoting behaved like a well-educated, personable old man.
He not only tutors Xia Mei's son with his homework, but also often cooks himself, cooking delicious dishes for Xia Mei and her son.
Of course, he did not confide in Xia Mei about his escape, only that he was hunted down because he produced overproduced cigarettes.
During the conversation, he inadvertently revealed to Xia Mei his glorious past when he was the director of the cigarette factory.
Xia Mei, who was deceived by Li Guoting, felt that he was good at talking and learning, and gradually fell in love with him.
After establishing a relationship with Xia Mei, Li Guoting promised that he would treat Xia Mei well and send her son to study abroad.
But not long after, Miao Ying was arrested by the comrades of the special case team, and Li Guoting also felt the atmosphere of danger approaching.
He asked Xia Mei to find a new hiding place for him, and Xia Mei sent him to his brother's house in Tianjin to hide.
Therefore, when the special case team rushed to Xia Mei's home to prepare to arrest Li Guoting, they did not see his figure.
The special case team could only start from Xia Mei's side, and after many conversations, Xia Mei finally believed that Li Guoting was a criminal with heinous crimes.
She spoke out about Li Guoting's living conditions these days and his current hiding place.
In the early morning of March 18, 1999, the special case team rushed to Tianjin and arrested Li Guoting, who thought he could still get away with it.
After being arrested, Li Guoting still gritted his teeth, refused to admit guilt, and wanted to escape legal punishment.
When the comrades of the task force put all the evidence in front of him, he finally lowered his noble head.
On August 29, 2001, after more than two years of "fighting wits and courage" between Li Guoting and the special case team, he finally stood in court.
Li Guoting should have been sentenced to death and executed immediately, but because he admitted his mistake and had a good attitude, he cooperated in the recovery of the stolen money.
In the end, the court sentenced Li Guoting to death on the grounds that the amount of money involved in Li Guoting's case was huge and the circumstances were particularly serious, with a two-year suspension of execution.
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Resources
Shijiazhuang Daily: "Long Story: An Analysis of the Two Huge Corruption Cases of Zhangjiakou Cigarette Factory"
Xinhua Net: "Former Director of Zhangjiakou Cigarette Factory Embezzled and Accepted Bribes of More Than 9 Million Yuan, Sentenced to Suspended Death"
Qingdao Evening News: "Money And Beauty Knocks Down the "Tobacco King"--The Fall of Li Guoting, Former Director of Zhangjiakou Tobacco Factory"