A former Beijing hotel boss has been sentenced to 20 years in
prison for embezzling more than 20 million yuan (US$ 2.5 million)
of public money and destroying account books to cover his
crime.
Liu Lihua, 52, admitted having misappropriated the public money
for private use when he was president of the state-owned Beijing
Dragon Spring Hotel and Beijing Quanxing Economic Development Co.
Ltd. between 1992 and 2000.
Liu, also head of the state-owned Western Beijing Tourism
Development Co. Ltd., was accused of embezzling at least 10 million
yuan (US$ 1.25 million) of the hotel's money to finance a private
hotel management firm.
The hotel's financial controller, however, pleaded ignorance of
the expenditure. "He was the boss and didn't need to inform me
where the money had gone," the man surnamed Pang was quoted as
saying by Beijing Morning Post.
Liu was accused of squandering another 10 million yuan to
register a shell company and get five of his friends permanent
residence rights in Beijing, taking advantage of a policy that
grants such rights to big investors.
Liu took 180,000 yuan (US$ 22,500) from the public coffers to
help his "goddaughter", a former employee at Beijing Dragon Spring
Hotel, out of financial difficulties.
He took an additional 130,000 yuan (US$ 16,250) to cover his
son's medical expenses and "borrowed" 500,000 yuan (US$ 62,500) to
buy a private villa in Zhuhai city, south China's Guangdong Province.
In court, Liu denied any wrongdoing. "I've done so much for
these companies. Is it wrong for me to use public money when my son
is sick or I need to buy a house?" he said, adding that he was free
to take as much money as he wanted from the state firms he
headed.
Liu, a former public servant, was appointed vice general manager
of the Dragon Spring Hotel on its establishment in 1987. He proved
successful in drawing tourists to Mentougou district, a former coal
mine production base in the western suburbs of Beijing, and was
entrusted with other management positions between 1992 and
2004.
When he heard he was being investigated at the end of 2004, he
tore up all the account books and sold them as waste paper.
Liu was arrested in January and sentenced to 20 years in jail at
first trial on Dec. 11. The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court also
fined him 20,000 yuan (US$ 2,500).
(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2006)