The Wuhan Red Cross Society is still renting out a warehouse intended for emergency relief supplies to private companies, three years after being fined for the same offense.

The land on which the building stands is owned by the government and was allocated to the RCSC's branch in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province. Under the terms of the allocation it cannot be rented to any other company, China National Radio reported yesterday.

However, a car dealership, drug store and badminton courts are now on the site.

In 1998, the Wuhan branch signed a contract with Hubei Zhiyou Mechanical and Electrical Co, allowing it to use the land for 50 years at a cost of 100,000 yuan (US$16,272) per year.

Later, the Hubei Frealth Dairy Co, which shared the same legal representative with Zhiyou, built a dairy on the site.

In 2005, Zhiyou rented it out to private companies, the report said. In 2011, the violation came under the media spotlight and the Wuhan Dongxihu District Land Resources and Planning Bureau confirmed that an offense had taken place.

Illegal earnings

The bureau was entitled to seize the illegal earnings for the five years — 1.13 million yuan — and impose a fine of 113,000 yuan, 10 percent of the gains.

However, its law enforcement team leader surnamed Tu said the Wuhan branch didn't pay the fine as it did not have the money.

Wang and Tu said they didn't know the charity is still violating the rules, and needed time to think about it, the report said.

Officials from the Wuhan branch said they too were unclear about the issue as they were not fully familiar with all the details.

In August, the RCSC was exposed for leasing its government-funded warehouse to Beijing Zhongxun Yuhua Business Management Co, which then sublet it to various logistics companies.

The RCSC was paid 900,000 yuan a year, while Zhongxun Yuhua is alleged to have made several million yuan from subletting the warehouse.

Former RCSC executive vice president Zhao Baige, who was sacked earlier this month, said the money was used to pay employees' wages.



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