Village officials removed after Judo champ posts graft accusation online

A village official from the city of Benxi, Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, has been suspended from his duties after a national Judo champion revealed corruption among officials, thepaper.cn reported on Tuesday.

Ma Duanbin, a Chinese Judo champion, reported on his Sina Weibo account on March 27 that Liu Zhongjun, the secretary of the Party branch in Huashudianzi village, the champion’s hometown, along with Liu Zhonghe and other village officials, were involved in corruption.

Ma posted that the Party secretary had embezzled more than 1 million yuan ($148,803) from the state poverty alleviation fund and colluded with local ruffians to beat up villagers.

According to a release from the website of Huanren county where the village is located, Liu Zhonghe has been suspended from his duties and Liu Zhongjun was found to be involved in deforestation activities. The local public security bureau is carrying out an investigation into Liu Zhongjun’s alleged violations.

Authorities in Huanren county have deployed a team to investigate Ma’s tip-off.

After visiting 665 households in Huashudianzi village, the team found that the disciplinary inspection committee in the county had previously removed Liu Zhongjun from his position after he was found to have embezzled from the poverty alleviation fund in 2015.

The Party committee of Wulidianzi township has organized a working group to manage village affairs in Huashudianzi in Benxi, thepaper.cn reported on Tuesday.