Ministries and commissions of the State Council that were found to have embezzled public funds are subjected to investigations.

Those cases were disclosed by the National Audit Office (NAO) and some had already been dealt with through severe penalties while others are still under investigation, said sources with the Ministry of Supervision.

According to an auditing report submitted to the national legislature by Auditor-General Li Jinhua, 41 ministries and commissions appropriated as much as 1.42 billion yuan (US$171.56 million) dedicated to special projects to build residential and office buildings for their own use.

"Some 24 cases uncovered by the auditing departments have been carefully investigated and dealt with by the supervision departments over the past year," said an anonymous official with the Ministry of Supervision.

The official said suspects involved in major cases have been arrested.

One such case that hit the spotlight involved a private entrepreneur.

Collaborating with bank and government staffers, Feng Mingchang, a private entrepreneur in South China's Guangdong, defrauded the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) of loans of billions of yuan, said the report.

Together with Feng, Ye Jiasheng, former deputy governor of ICBC Guangdong branch, Lin Junjiang, former governor of ICBC Foshan branch, and other suspects including local government officials have been arrested, the official said.

Supervision departments also investigated an embezzlement and bribery case involving Liu Jinbao, former vice-board-chairman of the Bank of China. Prosecuting departments are probing the case.

Lin Kongxing, former general-manager of the Huazhong Power Group, was suspected of taking bribes and embezzled about 1 million yuan (US$120,000), said the official, noting Lin and his wife have been handed over to prosecuting departments.

The auditing report also showed how Chen Zhongyi, former director of Anshan Power Industry Bureau, loaned 370 million yuan (US$44.7 million) to a private business without authorization.

The official said the General Administration of Sport is also under investigation in connection with an embezzlement case uncovered by the NAO.

(China Daily July 12, 2004)