Huo Ronggui, the former secretary of the Wuwei Municipal CPC Committee, paid bribes of more than two million Yuan to a Gansu businessman and was sentenced to six years in prison

On August 3, the China Judgment Documents Network released the "Criminal Judgment of Zhang Bao's Bribery, Collusion in Bidding, Fraudulent Loans, Acceptance of Bills, and Financial Instruments of the First Instance", which disclosed some of the details of bribes accepted by Huo Ronggui, former secretary of the Wuwei Municipal Party Committee in Gansu Province.

The above-mentioned judgment shows that Zhang Bao, born on August 24, 1984, is a member of the Fourth Committee of Wuwei City, Gansu Province, and was originally the legal representative of Gansu Rongbao Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Rongbao Company). On July 26, 2018, the Anding District Supervision Commission of Dingxi City was sentenced to liuzhi measures on suspicion of bribery. On January 18, 2019, he was criminally detained by the Public Security Bureau of Anding District, Dingxi City, and arrested on January 24, 2019.

Recently, after trial by the Anding District People's Court of Dingxi City, Gansu Province, it was ascertained that from 2014 to 2016, in order to seek and thank Huo Ronggui, then secretary of the Wuwei Municipal Party Committee of Gansu Province, for his support and care in the operation and payment of project funds of Rongbao Company, Zhang Bao twice presented a 500-gram gold product (worth 149,500 yuan) and 50,000 euros to Huo Ronggui in the second half of 2014, and 150,000 yuan to Huo Ronggui in September 2015 Before the Spring Festival in 2016, he gave a gift of 100,000 US dollars to Huo Ronggui. The above gold products and foreign currencies are equivalent to a total of RMB 2.2465 million. In June 2015, Huo Ronggui returned 20,000 yuan of gold products and euros received from Zhang Bao to Zhang Bao, and in June 2016, Huo Ronggui returned another 100,000 US dollars to Zhang Bao. The reason for the refund was not disclosed.

According to the judgment, in March 2016, In order to successfully obtain the land for the "Western Rongbao Shuangchuang Park and Entrepreneurship Park Plaza" project, Zhang Bao gave a 500-gram gold product returned by Huo Ronggui (the current price was 142,500 yuan) to Wang Mou, then deputy governor of the Liangzhou District People's Government of Wuwei City.

Huo Ronggui's testimony also mentioned that in the second half of 2010, he met Zhang Bao when he inspected the Wuwei New Energy Equipment Park. In the second half of 2014, when he was on a business trip in Shanghai, he received a 500-gram gold product from Zhang Bao in the hotel room where he stayed. In September 2014, when he was resting in room 8408 of the Green Garden Hotel, Zhang Bao gave him an envelope bag containing 50,000 euros. In September 2015, rongbao company was preparing to list on the "new third board", and Zhang Bao asked it to greet Liangzhou District and give it an envelope bag containing 150,000 euros. Before the Spring Festival in 2016, Zhang Bao sent $100,000 to his office. In June 2015, he returned the 20,000 euros and 500 grams of gold products sent by Zhang Bao, in May 2016, he returned the 100,000 US dollars sent by Zhang Bao, and the remaining 180,000 euros were taken to Lanzhou and handed over to his brother Huo Xiaojun and nephew Ma Yuan for safekeeping.

Zhang Bao confessed that giving gifts to Huo Ronggui is to have a good relationship with Huo Ronggui, hoping that Huo Ronggui can give more care to Rongbao Company in terms of policies and funds. He received help from Huo Ronggui in applying for the land use certificate of Rongbao Company in the new energy park, paying the second phase of the lighting project of Tianma Lake to Rongbao Company in Liangzhou District, and obtaining the land plot of "Rongbao Shuangchuang Park".

The verdict shows that in addition to the crime of bribery, Zhang Bao also committed the crime of colluding in bidding and fraudulently obtaining loans, and was punished for several crimes at the same time, and decided to carry out a fixed-term imprisonment of six years and a fine of 300,000 yuan.

The Paper has reported that Huo Ronggui has worked in the General Office of the Gansu Provincial Government for a long time, serving as deputy director and director of the secretariat of the General Office of the Provincial Government, deputy director and director of the General Office, and deputy secretary general of the Provincial Government. At the beginning of 2010, Huo Ronggui was transferred to Wuwei as the secretary of the municipal party committee. During his term of office, controversies such as "catching journalists" caused concern. In April 2017, Wang Sanyun ceased to serve as party secretary of Gansu Province, and Huo Ronggui was subsequently removed from his position. Three months later, Wang Sanyun fell from power, and Huo Ronggui was transferred to the Gansu Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as deputy director of the Agricultural and Rural Work Committee until july 2018, when he was investigated.

According to the WeChat public account of the Dingxi Intermediate People's Court, on September 26, 2019, the Intermediate People's Court of Dingxi City, Gansu Province, publicly pronounced a verdict in accordance with the law on the case of Huo Ronggui accepting bribes, embezzling public funds, and abusing his power. Huo Ronggui was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment and fined 1 million yuan for accepting bribes; 13 years' imprisonment for embezzlement; and sentenced to five years' imprisonment for abuse of power, and decided to carry out the fixed-term imprisonment for 18 years and a fine of 1 million yuan.

After trial, Huo Ronggui, as a state functionary, took advantage of his position while serving as deputy director of the General Office of the Gansu Provincial Government, deputy secretary general of the provincial government and director of the Provincial Informatization Office, director of the General Office of the Provincial Government, and secretary of the Wuwei Municipal Party Committee. Accepting property from others worth 13.3471 million yuan and seeking benefits for others constitutes the crime of accepting bribes; instructing state functionaries to embezzle 50 million yuan of public funds for the use of other companies for profit-making activities, and embezzling huge amounts of public funds without returning them constitutes the crime of embezzlement; violating the authority and procedures prescribed by law, instructing state organ staff to allocate 13333333.4 square meters of state-owned unused desert land for bank loans for other companies free of charge, resulting in public property, The interests of the State and the people have suffered particularly heavy losses, the circumstances are particularly serious, and their acts constitute the crime of abuse of power. In view of the fact that Huo Ronggui truthfully confessed the facts of the crime after arriving at the case, voluntarily confessed most of the facts of the crime of accepting bribes that the case-handling organs had not yet grasped, had frank circumstances, confessed guilt in court, repented of his crimes, and voluntarily returned some of the bribed property, he could be given a lighter punishment in accordance with law, so the above judgment was made.

Source: The Paper