Chinese judge accused of running US$2.9 billion business empire with her husband put under investigation
- Vice-president of Hainan court Zhang Jiahui earlier detained on accusations she defrauded families of convicted criminals, perverted the course of justice
- Former business associates denounced couple at press conference in Shanghai on May 11
A senior judge in southern China who was detained last month after being publicly accused of running a multibillion-dollar business empire with her husband has been formally placed under investigation for alleged corruption, local authorities have announced.
Zhang Jiahui, a vice-president of the Hainan Provincial Higher People’s Court, and her husband Liu Yuansheng, came under scrutiny last month after two men claiming to have had business dealings with the couple held a press conference accusing them of fraud and other nefarious activities.
Businessmen Chen Zinan and Li Fuhua said at the event on May 11 in Shanghai that Zhang and Liu had “defrauded money from the families of major criminals” and “interfered in judicial affairs”.
Chen and Li said that they too had been cheated by the couple, whom they claimed controlled 36 companies registered under their relatives’ names and had assets of “at least 20 billion yuan [US$2.9 billion]”.
When interviewed by local news outlets later the same day, Zhang, 54, denied the allegations and said she would “protect her legal rights according to the law”.
On May 13, Hainan’s political and legal affairs commission said it had begun an investigation into allegations that a court vice-president owned billions of yuan worth of assets, though did not mention Zhang by name. News of her detention came the following day.
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On Friday, Hainan’s provincial disciplinary authority said that Zhang had now been put under investigation for alleged “serious violations of discipline and law”, a commonly used euphemism for corruption.
Liu, a former judge who left the judiciary in the mid-1990s to set up a property business, was also under police investigation, it said.
While the press conference organised by Chen and Li might have led to Zhang and Liu’s detention, the couple had just weeks earlier been embroiled in a lawsuit against a labour contractor who had worked on one of Liu’s property developments several years ago.
According to court documents published in a report by Chinese news portal Thepaper.cn, Yi Zhenwu provided the labour for a hotel construction project in 2014 and 2015 but fell out with Liu over a payment dispute.
The contractor said Liu underpaid him for his services and in doing so forced him into bankruptcy.
After multiple failed attempts to recoup the money he believed he was owed, Yi sought to blackmail Liu and Zhang by filming them in compromising situations, the report said.
In one video Zhang was seen gambling tens of thousands of yuan in a game of mahjong, while in another Liu was heard bragging about his wealth.
Yi sent the films to the couple with a note demanding more money. But instead of receiving a pay-off, Zhang and Liu called the police and filed a lawsuit accusing Li of racketeering. The case is ongoing.
