BEIJING (AP) – Officials in China’s freewheeling south gambled away more than $3 million in public funds, and some of the biggest money-losers are going to prison for it, according to state media reports.
Anti-corruption agents have investigated 53 officials from Guangdong province for misusing 22 million yuan ($3.2 million) in public money, and six higher-ranking officials have been jailed or face punishment, the China Daily reported Saturday.
Among those facing charges is Chen Zhiqiang, a local Communist Party official in Foshan city who allegedly embezzled 13 million yuan, or $1.8 million, to feed a gambling habit, the reports said. The Southern Metropolis Daily said that in 2005 and 2006 Chen traveled to Macau – the former Portuguese colony and gambling center now ruled by China – 63 times, four times in one week.
Receiving the heaviest sentence so far was a vice party secretary of Yunfu city, Wu Xingkui, who was sentenced to four years in jail. Wu lost nearly 600,000 yuan ($85,000) betting on soccer and playing mahjong, sometimes on trips to Hong Kong, the China Daily said.
Though illegal in most of China, gambling is popular. Chinese leaders have launched recurring campaigns against officials for gambling as part of an effort to curb the widespread corruption that has undermined public faith in the government.