'Corrupt officials misused quake funds'

Published Jan 3, 2009

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Beijing - Some relief funds and supplies intended for survivors of China's devastating May earthquake were misused, but all abuses had been now rectified, state media reported on Saturday.

There has been widespread concern in China that corrupt officials would misuse relief money or material, as well as some reports of diverted aid supplies and scams relating to the quake.

China's National Audit Office (NAO) said there had been some irregular allocation of aid, embezzlement and improper management of relief funds and goods, the official China Daily reported.

But there had been no major misuse of quake donations, the newspaper said.

The NAO's report, posted online, was the fourth since the quake struck on May 12 in China's southwestern province of Sichuan, leaving more than 87,000 people dead or missing.

It said that in Chongzhou, two separate government departments both reported the collapse of a road, artificially inflating the city's quake loss by 1,2-billion yuan.

Pengzhou city also failed to report 3-million-yuan worth of donated mobile phone cards, the report said.

All abuses had been rectified, it said. "Those held responsible have already been subjected to disciplinary action by the party and the government or have been held accountable by law."

The account was based on an audit conducted between May 14 and the end of November of 18 central government departments, and thousands of provincial, municipal and county-level offices. - Sapa-AFP

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