| Former liquor firm bosses face prosecution |
THREE heads of Anhui Gujing Group Co, including the former chairman of the country's biggest liquor maker, will soon be delivered to prosecutors to faces charges of bribery and corruption, the Procuratorial Daily reported today.
Wang Xiaojin, the former chairman of Gujing Group, will be handed over to Anhui's provincial procuratorate while Liu Junde, vice president of the group and Lu Jianchun, deputy manager of the sales department of Gujing Distillery Co, a subordinate firm under the Gujing Group, will also face prosecution, the Beijing-based newspaper reported.
Wang and his wife were taken by the Party's disciplinary personnel from their home in April. Previous reports said that investigation into Wang was launched by Central Disciplinary Committee of the Communist Party of China Central Committee while it was probing the affairs of Anhui's Shuanglun Group, a state-owned liquor maker about 100 kilometers from Bozhou City, which hosts Gujing Group.
Wang's case was also connected to the probe of Wang Huaizhong, the former vice Anhui provincial governor and Wang Zhaoyao, the former vice Party secretary of Anhui Province.
Meanwhile, the newspaper also said another eight high-ranking officials from Gujing Group, most of whom are Wang's relatives or close friends, are also under investigations for the same charges.
The report cited prosecutors as saying that Guo Xinmin, deputy manager of the sales department of Gujing Distillery Co, has received the largest amount of bribes among the nabbed officials with having taken more than 5.26 million yuan and precious gifts at an estimated worth of 200,000 yuan. He also took other bribes worth US$20,000 and HK$200,000 during his tenure in Gujing, prosecutors said.
Gujing Group, producer of one of China's top-five liquor brands, owns a 62.6 percent stake in the Shenzhen-listed Anhui Gujing Distillery Co.
Gujing saw sales revenue in its liquor segment grow eight percent to 1.2 billion yuan last year, according to the company.
It also accounts for about a 15 percent of market share nationwide.
Gujing Distillery Co today slid 1.86 percent, or 0.43 yuan, to 22.73 yuan on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks both yuan-denominated A shares and hard-currency B shares, dropped 0.51 percent, or 27.01 points, to close at 5,294.045.
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