Five judges from Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court have been arrested and detained on corruption charges, the Shenzhen People's Procuratorate announced Friday.

The official confirmation by the local procuratorate came after the court corruption cases were highlighted by domestic media.

Bai Xinchao, chief procurator of the Shenzhen People's Procuratorate, said in Friday's news release that the five suspects, including a vice president, two court presidents, a director of the implementation division and a retired judge, are alleged to have taken advantage of loopholes in the court's internal control and supervision system several years ago.

The alleged corruption cases, believed to be linked, were initially triggered by a tip-off to the Shenzhen People's Procuratorate in May. The five judges were then arrested in a series of raids ranging from June and September.

Investigations showed that Liao Zhaohui, the retired judge, is alleged to have repeatedly taken bribes from clients during his tenure. Cai Xiaoling and Zhang Tinghua, both court presidents, are alleged to have taken bribes by taking advantage of their rights to appoint auctioning houses to sell possessions recovered in bankruptcy cases, and taken bribes from clients. Investigators are also reported to have found a large amount of cash in RMB and Hong Kong dollars in Zhang's office.

The other two suspects, Pei Hongquan, vice president of the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, and Li Huili, director of the implementation division of the court, and Pei's ex-wife, are under further investigation. Evidence shows the two are suspected of accepting huge bribes, said Bai.

The local procuratorate did not reveal the amount of money involved in the alleged offenses. Bai said the crimes were committed several years ago when auction houses and auction appraisals were appointed by judges independently from any court supervision system.

(Shenzhen Daily November 13, 2006)