Under the Communist regime in China, corruption has become rampant, and there has recently been another case of a small official engaging in large-scale corruption. In Shoushan Town, Liaoyang County, Liaoning Province, the secretary of an 800-person community has misappropriated and embezzled collective funds exceeding 170 million yuan.
According to a report by the Chinese media “China News Weekly,” in July 2024, the Liaoning Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision reported on six prominent cases of rural collective “three-capital” management issues. Among them, it was revealed that Cao Jun, the former Party branch secretary of the Kongxiang Community in Shoushan Town, Liaoyang County, misappropriated 87.3 million yuan of collective funds and embezzled 82.8 million yuan of collective funds.
It is worth noting that Liaoyang County has a population of about 370,000 people, with a fiscal income of over 990 million yuan last year. Shoushan Town is located in the central part of Liaoyang County, where the county government is located, and its main mineral resources include lead and iron ores.
Recently, reporters from the media learned in Shoushan Town that the “Kongxiang Community” mentioned in the report is actually the “Kong Family Community,” which was originally the Kong Family Village.
In 2012, Ansteel Group occupied the land of Kong Family Village in Majiaxin Village, and the Liaoyang County government carried out the expropriation of the Kong Family Village. Several villagers stated that during the relocation of the Kong Family Village, the population was only about 800 people. After the village was expropriated, the Kong Family Community was established in the county town, with Cao Jun serving as both the Party branch secretary and the community director of the Kong Family Community. He stepped down in 2019.
At the same time as the relocation, the construction of the relocation building was put on the agenda. The relocation building, named “Kongxiang New District,” is located in Liaoyang County and was developed by Liaoyang Yonglian Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. with a budget of 406 million yuan, funded by the government’s relocation fees.
Tianyancha data shows that Cao Jun has a close relationship with Yonglian company, which constructed the relocation building.
Initially, the company’s shares were held by three village cadres from the Kong Family Village, including Cao Jun, on behalf of the village collective. As the relocation project brought huge profits, Cao Jun’s attitude changed, initiating a series of illegal operations involving collective funds.
During this period, Cao Jun misappropriated 87.3 million yuan of collective funds, with the majority of it occurring in 2017, using almost all of this money for property speculation in Hainan.
Law enforcement officers sealed off 44 properties owned by Cao Jun in Hainan, all located in Sanya, with the total purchase cost at the time being approximately 1.1 billion yuan. Most of Cao Jun’s Hainan properties were registered under the names of his wife, son, his son’s friends, and others.
Subsequently, the Chinese real estate market began to decline, and many properties in Hainan were difficult to sell. Cao Jun was concerned that the misappropriation of collective funds would be discovered during an audit, so he used the embezzlement of collective funds to cover up the previous misappropriation.
Cao Jun’s embezzlement of collective funds occurred mainly in 2019 and 2020. Compared to the quick exposure during audits for misappropriation, embezzlement was carried out by fabricating engineering quantities, making it more covert and increasing the difficulty of auditing.
The report states that in addition to misappropriation and embezzlement of collective funds, Cao Jun was also involved in the illegal sale of minerals from the Kong Family Village.
Following the incident, in May 2024, Cao Jun was expelled from the Party, and his case was handled in a different jurisdiction, not in Liaoyang County. Currently, the case has been transferred to the Baita District Court in Liaoyang City.
The fact that a secretary of an 800-person community has embezzled and misappropriated over a hundred million yuan of collective funds has sparked public attention.
A commentator and prominent figure on Weibo, “Shi Shushi,” wrote, “Although this incident occurred in economically underdeveloped Liaoning and is an extreme case, it is still astonishing that a small community secretary accumulated wealth of over a hundred million in a short period through demolition and property speculation… The embezzlement by Secretary Cao reveals the lack of oversight brought about by the transition and upgrading from village to community.”
An economics blogger and influential figure on Weibo, “Ba Yue Junjie,” said, “The village party secretary holds a low position but wields significant power, yet there was no supervision.”
A headline writer and popular Weibo figure, “Zuo Zhe Hailing,” remarked, “Even village party secretaries are so powerful, embezzling public funds for property speculation! Despite the promise of caging power, the outcome is that from villages, towns, and counties to cities and provinces, there are almost always cases of corrupt officials, giving a feeling of unstoppable wildfires. Where did things go wrong? Ordinary people have very little money left, either tied up in houses or victims of various fraudulent investments. Can the common people be given a way out? Why are the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer?”