Former Chinese Justice Minister Accused of Corruption

Fu Zhenghua, former Chinese Communist Party Vice Minister for Public Security. Phoenix Net

News Analysis

China’s former justice minister and deputy police chief, Fu Zhenghua, was placed under investigation two months ago. He was allegedly involved in financial crimes and targeted petitioners, according to one victim who spoke with The Epoch Times. Fu was also allegedly involved in persecuting the Falun Gong spiritual practice.

On Oct. 2, Fu was placed under investigation for “serious violations of party discipline and law.” Fu was allegedly involved in receiving bribes and protecting suspects accused of financial crimes.

A former railway ministry executive, who’s currently living in exile in Hong Kong, revealed Fu’s corrupt history to The Epoch Times, and exposed the dark side of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) political and legal system.

Wang Jing, one of the founders of China Railway Duojing Investment Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as China Railway), told the publication that he’s one of the few remaining former employees who can still speak out, despite being persecuted by Fu and his henchmen.

“I am still wanted by them, so I have been hiding in Hong Kong. ... We had dozens of employees wanted by them. Some were imprisoned [and went] crazy, some were imprisoned [and became] crippled, some ran away.”

Fu Allegedly Received Bribes

According to Wang, in the late 1990s, the Ministry of Railways wanted to make money from the railway industry system by constructing modern transportation networks. Wang seized the opportunity to set up shell companies in Hong Kong and prepared to go public to finance the development of various business projects of China Railway.

Wang raised billions of dollars in 2007 by using backdoor listings of various China Railway projects through Hong Kong companies. Those behind his shell company partners had their eyes set on the huge amount of money raised on the stock market.

Wang Xinliang—the son of the former vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Wang Zhaoguo—controlled a lot of China Railway’s shell companies that were listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, according to Wang Jing.

Wang Xinliang ordered his subordinates to seize over $108 million of funds from China Railway in Hong Kong.

Wang Jing said that the company has repeatedly reported the incident to the authorities. But Fu prevented the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau from filing a case against Wang Xinliang and his associates on several occasions. In 2008, Wang Xinliang’s henchmen collaborated with a Beijing judge in an attempt to seize nearly $23.6 million in frozen bank deposits of China Railway Television Freight and Logistics Transport Company Limited, one of China Railway’s shell companies in Hong Kong.

The situation also involved business dealings in Inner Mongolia, and in May 2008, Hulunbuir Public Security Bureau accepted a report from China Railway and filed an investigation.

The Hulunbuir Public Security Bureau caught an alleged suspect and accomplice, He Gangqiang, on Sept. 6, 2008. According to the report submitted by the security bureau to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP), Fu attempted to release He from the Beijing Xisanqi police station.

At that time, the Hulunbuir Public Security Bureau sent a report and a video to the SPP and the plaintiff (China Railway), Wang said.

The video, which was secretly shot by the security bureau while He was under investigation, revealed the collusion between He and Fu. The footage shows He giving a Japanese sword to Fu in the underground parking lot of Jingguang Building in Beijing’s Chaoyang District, on the eve of June 27, 2008.

“A deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau (referring to Fu Zhenghua) had an unusual relationship with the suspect, He Gangqiang,” the Hulunbuir police said in the report.

Wang Jing posted the police report and video online.

Fu then retaliated against the whistleblowers by filing a case against them, including Wang, in November 2008. Several China Railway employees in mainland China were arrested, and an arrest warrant was issued for Wang.

Wang left the mainland and fled to Hong Kong. “I was almost killed by them. If I were still in the mainland, I would have already been killed,” he said.

Fu Used His Influence in Hong Kong to Target a Petitioner

Wang said that even though he hid in Hong Kong, he was still targeted by Fu, Wang Xinliang, and others.

“In 2009, Fu Zhenghua forged documents to falsely accuse me of trafficking in women and children and illegally obtaining a mainland identity card. Then he tried to influence the Hong Kong government through the Liaison Office to arrest me and deport me back to the mainland.”

The Liaison Office is Beijing’s representative office in Hong Kong.

“I was detained by the Hong Kong Immigration Department and held for 42 days. I wasn’t freed until I applied to the Hong Kong court for judicial review and a writ of habeas corpus,” he said.

Wang is unable to find employment or open a bank account in Hong Kong, and is constantly on high alert. He said that he could get kidnapped or assassinated by mainland public security officials and Hong Kong gang members.

Wang said the law and judiciary are merely tools of the CCP elite, and that China Railway employees have become victims of infighting among senior officials over their interests. Fu claimed that Wang Zhaoguo’s wife and the company’s secretary intended to take all of the company’s assets, according to Wang.

The Epoch Times reached out to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau to verify Wang Jing’s allegations against Fu. The bureau staff claimed that they were not aware of the situation and their director couldn’t be reached for comment.

Media Employees Attacked

Wang Jing also revealed that he was not the only victim of Fu’s persecution. He said that Fu did a lot of ruthless things, and many people were arrested, killed, and beaten, including two employees of Ming Pao, a Chinese-language newspaper.

On Feb. 26, 2014, Kevin Lau Chun-to, former editor-in-chief of Ming Pao, was attacked by two assailants in Hong Kong. He was stabbed six times and sustained serious injuries.

Wang said that Lau was targeted because he and another Ming Pao reporter, Chen Yang, did a story on China Railway and exposed the shady business dealings that involved Fu Zhenghua and He Gangqiang.

“As a result, Lau was mutilated, stabbed several times in the legs and torso. He later spent a long time in the hospital and is now partially disabled.”

Chen’s situation was even more tragic, Wang said. “Fu Zhenghua instructed the Beijing public security officials to pose as kidnappers and take Chen Yang to a building in the suburbs of Beijing. There he was detained and tortured for three days and two nights. When he was released, they took off all his clothes and filmed him naked.”

“One of Chen Yang’s kidneys was damaged and was later removed due to the injury. After that horrible experience, Chen never fully recovered. He was mentally affected and fell ill for a long time. His life was ruined by Fu Zhenghua,” Wang said.

Wang’s allegation matches the details in a complaint letter that Chen wrote to China’s top disciplinary body, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, on May 6, 2013, which was published online.

Falun Gong Persecution

According to Minghui.org, a U.S.-based website dedicated to recording the persecution of Falun Gong in China, Fu was involved in the harassment, arrest, torture, and deaths of Falun Gong adherents.

On Dec. 10, which marks Human Rights Day, Falun Gong practitioners in 29 countries reported Fu and other human rights violators to their respective governments, requesting these countries to sanction the perpetrators, according to Minghui.org.