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PR, accountants, auditors channel to official corruption

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-05 19:15

BEIJING -- Public relations, consultants, industry organizations and accountants are becoming a new channel for official corruption in China, according to a report abstract released Thursday by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

The abstract says "intermediary agencies" are increasingly perpetuating corruption through bribery, money laundering and state assets embezzlement.

"The opening of this new channel can be traced back to 2003, when a government institution reform resulted in some organizations peeling away from the government to become 'intermediary agencies'," said report author Lin Yueqin, an associate researcher at the CASS.

"In many cases, government officials maintained control of the agencies, which became private companies," Lin said.

Public relations workers, for example, could bribe officials to help their clients illegally win government contracts, such as computer or medical facilities procurement, according to the abstract.

It said the bribes might be money, securities, big houses and cars, or even financial support for officials' political promotions and education expenses for their children studying abroad.

Other agencies such as tender intermediaries could bribe officials to win projects. Law firms could bribe judges or help their clients pay the bribes to win the lawsuits.

Intermediary agencies had also helped forge contracts and invoices in money laundering cases.

Some accountants, audit and evaluation firms made false accounts and assessments, helping corrupt officials embezzle state assets.

The report suggested the main reason for such corruption was that the agencies were still organizationally and financially dependent on the government since most of their executives were government officials.

Another reason was the insignificant penalties for those giving bribes compared with the punishments for those taking bribes.

The report called for a clear separation of government administration and business, and legal system improvements to provide legal oversight and more severe punishments.

The full report is due to be released in mid-February, but an exact date has yet to be announced.