Luxurious nightclub cracked for sex business
- By Lin Liyao
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 29, 2016
More than 260 people suspected of involvement in the prostitution business at a nightclub in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, have been transferred to prosecutors, the People's Police News, run by the Ministry of Public Security, reported recently.
![Luxurious nightclub Royal No.1 in Zhengzhou.[File photo]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/png/site1007/20160329/7427ea210acc18641f9023.png "Luxurious nightclub Royal No.1 in Zhengzhou.[File photo]") |
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Luxurious nightclub Royal No.1 in Zhengzhou.[File photo] |
According to the report, a total of 152 policemen and three prosecutors have been punished for accepting bribes and covering up the ring. More than 8 million yuan (US$1.22 million) in bribes and nearly 300 million yuan (US$46.08 million) of illicit fundswere seized.
Criminal detection costs two years
On night of Nov. 1, 2013, some 1,000 police from Xinxiang City, a small city near Zhengzhou, raided the Royal No.1 Nightclub after five months of secret investigation and detection. According to the provincial public security department in Henan, sending policemen from another city was a means of preventing any leaked information.
Two years later, on May 25, 2015, Chen Jiagui and Wang Guofu, two managers of the luxury club, were convicted of organizing a sex trade and sentenced to life in prison. In addition, the Xinxiang Intermediate People's Court sentenced nine other suspects to 10-15 years, with fines ranging from 80,000 yuan (US$12,296) to 1 million yuan (US$153,700).
According to a report from Xinhua News Agency in May, 2015, the nightclub employed more than 4,500 females in total, over 2,900 of them had provided sex services before the nightclub was raided and forced to close.
Leaders and officers involved in the crime
Among the 152 policemen and three prosecutors punished in the case, 124 of them were former officials, accounting for 80 percent of the total suspects.
Zhou Tingxin, a former deputy director of the city's public security bureau, was found "borrowing" money from the club, which is a disguise for taking bribes from the ring.
Wang Hai, former head of the Fire Protection Supervision Department at the Zhengzhou Fire Prevention Station, was once a renowned elite who won the first place during the firefighter competition held in Henan Province.
Yao Tianli, former deputy director of the provincial public security corps in Henan, Bian Weihua, former head of the inspection and acceptance section in the Fire Protection Supervision Department at the Zhengzhou Fire Prevention Station, and Huang Boren, former chief of the Jinshui branch of the Zhengzhou Public Security Bureau, were all newly-appointed leaders and considered core staff members.
Systemic corruption appeared in the case
In a commentary published on the People's Police News on Feb. 26, the author summarized four reasons that local police officers were involved in the case.
Firstly, regarding social relations, the illegal actions of those suspected policemen were aimed at seeking power.
Secondly, for personal reasons, as some policemen lost their professional ethics and perverted their philosophy of life and values.
Thirdly, for psychological reasons, the mind of some suspected policemen were dominated by a range of negative psychology, such as unfairness, greed and vanity.
Fourthly, from aspects of system design, due to a lack of restriction mechanisms, public power supervision became a mere formality, losing its authority.
Wang Jingbo, a professor at the Research Center for Government by Law at China University of Political Science and Law, concluded that the whole case was systemic corruption.
"When the entire political environment in an area is polluted, the police team is very likely to be involved in the corruption," Wang said. "There are always huge benefits behind this kind of corruption."
Wang also called for an efficient supervision system. "An integrity supervision mechanism should be put in place outside the jurisdiction of a police department, and it must be a regular means to prevent unethical behavior," said Wang.
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