Red Cross in trouble again over land use and charges

Shanghai Daily, July 15, 2011

China's Red Cross, in the spotlight recently for alleged misuse of funds, is at the center of another two alleged scandals.

In the first case, a land plot allocated to a branch of the Red Cross Society of China in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, for storing disaster relief items is said to have been rented to a company for business use.

China National Radio said yesterday that the Red Cross leased the land to Wuhan Zhiyou Electromechanical Engineering Co for 50 years at 100,000 yuan (US$15,486) a year in 1998. The 1.29 hectares of land was given to the Red Cross to store disaster relief goods in 1993, the report said.

The land was later subleased by Zhiyou to several private companies and individuals and was now the site of office buildings and sports venues, it said.

Wuhan's land resources authority has launched an investigation.

In a separate case, it was claimed that the Red Cross Foundation charged hospitals 600,000 yuan for a medical device claimed to be worth several million yuan, although insiders say its value is just 120,000 yuan.

In collaboration with Qi Zhongxiang, a medical appliances dealer, the Red Cross Foundation launched a project to provide free cancer treatment for the poor in 2006, the National Business Daily reported yesterday.

Free treatment

Under the program, Qi's company, Zhongxin Ruijin Technology Development, donated a medical device called an ultrasonic knife to hospitals which promised to offer free treatment to 30-50 patients a year.

But before they could receive the equipment, hospitals were required to pay the foundation 600,000 yuan to cover transport, installation, maintenance, training and other expenses, the newspaper said.

According to the foundation, the project has been implemented in around 100 hospitals nationwide so far.

An insider said the foundation took 20 percent while the rest of the money went to Zhongxin Ruijin.

But both dispute the figures and Qi said his company only broke even. The foundation said the money it received funded daily operations.

To allay suspicions over possible misuse of the money, the Red Cross Foundation and Qi have invited accounting firms to audit the project.

Each device, which can kill cancer cells, was valued at 5 million yuan by the foundation. But a source in medical appliance sales said the machine only cost 120,000 yuan.

The allegations are the latest in a number of claims which have put the credibility of the Red Cross on the line.

China's bone marrow bank, under the Red Cross, recently rejected claims that it charged money for bone marrow matches and transplants and the nation's top auditor revealed in June that the Red Cross paid 4.2 million yuan more than they should have for medical devices in 2010.

In the most notorious case, the Red Cross said it was pursuing charges against a woman, Guo Meimei, who boasted about her lavish lifestyle while claiming to be general manager of "Red Cross Commerce."