The whistleblower in the Qilian Mountain 100 billion mining rights case fell to his death at home, "defending rights for nearly 20 years, and poverty is compounded"

Interface News Reporter | Intern reporter Tian Heqi reporter Zhang Qiannan

Interface News Editor | Liu Haichuan

At 3 a.m. on April 3, 2024, Jin Zongbo, the whistleblower of the Qilian Mountain 100 billion mining rights case that had caused a sensation across the country, jumped from his home in Xi'an and ended his life.

The Paper confirmed the news of his suicide by jumping off the building at his residence from a friend of Jin Zongbo, who said that it was the property that discovered the strange situation and called the police, and his house had been sealed. "It's just to defend his rights, and he has nothing left in the end. From the inside, it may be hopeless. ”

The friend also mentioned that Jin Zongbo had sent him a text in October last year, "I am now lonely, poor and sick. In the past 20 years of defending my rights, I have not achieved anything except for a breath of wrongdoing. Not only did I lose all my savings, but I also sold the only house in my life that was assigned to me by the Shanyang County Transportation Bureau to pay off my debts, and my body was also dragged down by the pain of rights protection, and the complications of diabetes became more and more serious. ”

"The house leak happened to be rainy, and the miserable thing is that in November last year, Xiaobai, the driver of the Golden Land Company for nearly 20 years, suddenly suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and almost died, and now he is paralyzed, and even worse is that in April this year, my brother had a sudden cerebral infarction, and we didn't even have money for food for a while, a tragic word is indescribable. Jin Zongbo told his friend.

That passage actually shows his current state, and he has nothing to be nostalgic about. The friend said.

According to public information, Jin Zongbo is the legal representative of Shaanxi Golden Land Industrial Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Golden Land Company). On June 12, 2017, Jin Zongbo posted on his personal WeChat public account "Qinghai Provincial Department of Commerce issued false documents suspected of collusion between officials and businessmen and the transfer of benefits resulting in the loss of tens of billions of state-owned mineral resources". Once the report letter was issued, it aroused widespread concern in the society.

In the article, Jin Zongbo said that the Qinghai Provincial Department of Commerce and Ma Shaowei, the legal representative of Qinghai Xingqing Industry and Trade Engineering Group Co., Ltd. (Xingqing Company), colluded with each other to concoct false red-headed documents, which affected the final and fair judgment of economic dispute cases and led to the loss of state-owned mineral resources worth 10 billion yuan. The actions of the Qinghai Provincial Department of Commerce and individual leaders have constituted suspected crimes of abuse of power, forgery of official documents, etc., and are suspected of huge amounts of corruption.

The false red-headed document referred to by Jin Zongbo was the key evidence issued by Xingqing Company in the case of Jindi Company v. Hong Kong Huali International Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Huali Company) and Xingqing Company on April 10, 2014 - Qinghai Provincial Department of Commerce Qingshang Zi Zi [2005] No. 296 "Reply on the Equity Transfer of Qinghai Zijin Mining Coal Chemical Co., Ltd." (hereinafter referred to as Document No. 296).

The content of the red-headed document shows that "it is agreed that Hong Kong Huali International Investment Co., Ltd. will transfer its 95% equity in Qinghai Zijin Mining Coal Chemical Co., Ltd., equivalent to 10.4291 million yuan, to Qinghai Xingqing Industry and Trade Engineering Group Co., Ltd." and "the legal representative will be changed from Li Yilong to Ma Shaowei". At that time, the court relied on this key evidence and ruled against Golden Land.

According to public information, Ma Shaowei was born in March 1962 and is a native of Xining, Qinghai. Since 2001, he has served as the general manager of Qinghai Xingqing Industry and Trade Engineering Group Co., Ltd., and since 2005, he has served as the chairman of Qinghai Xingqing Industry and Trade Engineering Group Co., Ltd. In 2001, he was rated as a national outstanding private entrepreneur, in March of the same year, he was elected as a member of the 11th CPPCC of Xining City, and in 2008, he was elected as an executive committee member of the Qinghai Federation of Industry and Commerce.

The conflict between the two began in 2005 and lasted for 14 years. According to a previous report by Jiemian News, at the beginning of 2005, Li Silong met Jin Zongbo, who was inspecting the project in Qinghai. Jin Zongbo started as a road and bridge and accumulated nearly 100 million yuan in funds. One needs a project, the other needs funding, and the two sides hit it off. On July 4, 2005, Li Yilong, chairman of Zijin Company, appointed Jin Zongbo as the general manager of the company, responsible for the company's exploration and operation in the mining area.

About a week later, on July 12, Golden Land Company and Huali Company signed the "Equity Transfer Agreement", stipulating that Huali Company would transfer its 49% equity interest in Zijin Company and the corresponding development and operation rights of the Yijingtian Coal Mine Project to Golden Land Company at a consideration of 4.9 million yuan. Subsequently, Golden Land Company invested another 30.1 million yuan for the follow-up operation of Zijin Company.

Also at the beginning of 2005, Jin Zongbo approached Ma Shaowei because he wanted to rent a place in Xining to work. When he heard about Jin Zongbo's Muli coal mine development project, Ma Shaowei talked about cooperation, but Jin Zongbo chose to refuse. However, Ma Shaowei did not give up, but opened a gap from Li Yilong.

On July 25, only two weeks after signing the relevant agreement with Gemdale, Huali Company turned to sign the "Equity Acquisition Contract" and the "Supplementary Agreement" with Xingqing Company, stipulating that Xingqing Company would acquire 95% of the equity of Zijin Company held by Huali Company and the corresponding development and operation rights of the Yijingtian Coal Mine Project at a consideration of 15 million yuan.

Li Yilong's "one share and two sales" started a 14-year battle for 100 billion mining rights. And Ma Shaowei won many battles in the subsequent lawsuits with Document 296, and Jin Zongbo's road to defending his rights was difficult.

The battle for 100 billion mining rights ushered in a reversal in 2018. According to a previous report by the Economic Information Daily, in 2017, Jin Zongbo "exposed" the counterfeiting of Document 296 on the Internet, which attracted the attention of the Qinghai Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection. In the process of communication and feedback with Jin Zongbo, the Sixth Discipline Inspection and Supervision Office of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection said that after the investigation of the verification team of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Provincial Department of Commerce issued Document No. 296, but soon after it was issued, it was found that there was a problem and it was withdrawn and revoked.

On May 15, 2018, Deputy Director Ma of the Sixth Supervision Office of the Qinghai Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection replied to Jin Zongbo, "The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection handed over your relevant report letter, and the main leaders and leaders in charge have made relevant instructions, proving that this is the real document issued on October 19, 2005, but after this document was issued, their Ministry of Commerce had another link to revoke and retract." ”

"What year was that withdrawn?" Kim asked. Deputy Director Ma said, "It was after the document was issued at that time. ”

Previously, regarding the authenticity of Document 296, Jin Zongbo had applied to the Qinghai Provincial Department of Commerce for government information disclosure several times. In April and May 2018, the department replied to Jin Zongbo twice, saying that "Document 296 is a genuine document" and "the original file of Document 296 is lost and cannot be disclosed", but avoided the key fact that the document was withdrawn and revoked as verified by the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection. To this end, Jin Zongbo filed an administrative reconsideration with the Ministry of Commerce in May 2018. According to materials from the Ministry of Commerce, the Qinghai Provincial Department of Commerce stated in its administrative reconsideration reply to the Ministry of Commerce on June 5, 2018 that "the content of the document (Document No. 296) is inappropriate" and "the document has been withdrawn and revoked".

In September 2020, Jin Zongbo told The Paper, "In 2014, the Qinghai Department of Commerce issued two official letters, only saying that Document 296 was true, but not revoking it. In 2018, the Qinghai Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China concluded that under the premise that Document 296 was withdrawn and revoked shortly after it was issued, the Department of Commerce still only said that Document 296 was genuine, that is, it did not say that it was withdrawn and revoked. ”

"May I ask if Document No. 296 of the Qinghai Provincial Department of Commerce is true and the revocation of Document No. 296 shortly after the issuance of Document No. 296 means the same thing?" Jin Zongbo was puzzled as to why the Qinghai Provincial Department of Commerce wanted to conceal the revocation of the revocation of the plot. And he spent 13 years falsifying this false red-headed document.

In addition, it is puzzling why Xingqing Company has been able to "hide from the world" for more than ten years, and can still defy the wind and illegal mining in the "strictest environmental protection inspector in history"?

On August 4, 2020, the "Economic Information Daily" republished the article "Qinghai's "Invisible Richest Man": Qilian Mountain's Illegal Coal Mining Profits of 10 Billion Yuan Have Not Stopped". In April, July 2019 and July 2020, the reporter visited the Juhugen mining area three times. At the open-pit mining site of Xingqing Company, the reporter looked at the "disembowelment" type of mining to form a huge depression stope, which was shocking.

It is worth noting that in February 2016, the relevant central departments issued the "Research Report on the Comprehensive Improvement of the Ecological Environment of Qinghai Qilian Mountain Nature Reserve and Muli Mining Area", and the Qinghai Provincial Government also issued an implementation plan for the comprehensive improvement of the ecological environment of Muli Coal Mine.

However, Xingqing did not stop during the two rounds of central environmental inspections in January 2017 and July 2019. The day after the team left, they immediately resumed mining operations. "It is often the day to meet the inspection, the night to organize mining, or the superior leaders and law enforcement personnel have just left the front foot and resume production on the back foot. Xingqing company insiders said.

So far, Ma Shaowei has been entrenched in the Juhugen Coal Mine in the Muli Mining Area for 14 years, suspected of illegally mining more than 26 million tons of coal without a license, making a profit of more than 10 billion yuan, and completing the transformation of Qinghai as the "invisible richest man".

Five days after the report was issued, Qinghai Province held a press conference to announce the preliminary investigation into the "illegal mining of the Muli Coal Mine".

According to the press conference, Liang Yanguo (department level), member of the Standing Committee of the Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Party Committee, executive vice governor, deputy director of the Management Committee of the Qaidam Circular Economy Pilot Zone, and currently a member of the Standing Committee of the Haixi Prefecture Party Committee, executive deputy secretary of the Party Working Committee and executive deputy director of the Management Committee of the Qaidam Circular Economy Pilot Zone, member of the Party Group of the People's Government of Haixi Prefecture, member of the Party Working Committee of the Qaidam Circular Economy Pilot Zone, Li Yongping, full-time deputy director of the management committee and director of the Muli Coalfield Management Bureau (deputy department level), bears the main leadership responsibility for the dereliction of duty and responsibility in the supervision of the illegal mining of Xingqing Company, and the provincial party committee has decided to remove Liang Yanguo and Li Yongping from their posts and accept the organizational investigation.

On January 20, 2022, the Xining Intermediate People's Court publicly issued a first-instance judgment on Li Yongping's case of abuse of power and bribery in accordance with the law, and decided to enforce the sentence of 11 years and 6 months in prison and a fine of RMB 500,000, and on December 30 of the same year, the Xining Intermediate People's Court publicly pronounced a first-instance verdict on Liang Yanguo's case of accepting bribes and abuse of power, and decided to enforce the sentence of 14 years in prison and a fine of RMB 700,000.

On August 19, 2023, the second-instance judgment of the Xining Intermediate People's Court in Qinghai Province upheld the first-instance verdict against Ma Shaowei: he was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in prison and fined 6.3 million yuan for the crimes of illegal mining and bribery. More than 900 million yuan of illegal gains from Xingqing Company controlled by Ma Shaowei were recovered in accordance with the law.

In addition, on August 25, 2020, Qinghai Province held a mobilization and deployment meeting for the three-year action plan for the comprehensive improvement of the ecological environment in the Muli mining area and the Qinghai area at the southern foot of the Qilian Mountains, released the relevant remediation plan, and arranged the deployment of relevant remediation work. On August 31, the rectification action was officially launched and organized and implemented in three years.