China Eastern Airlines executives held in bribery probe
(AP)
Updated: 2006-09-07 18:08 SHANGHAI - Executives from China Eastern
Airlines' cargo division have been detained in a probe into alleged
bribe-taking, newspapers and the city's police said Thursday.
The respected China Business News said four executives of China Eastern's
China Cargo Airlines - Wang Qiang, Wu Sen, Yu Longjiang and Xiao
Qixian - were being held by Shanghai's Changning District prosecutor's
office.
It said investigators were looking into charges the four accepted bribes of
10 million yuan (US$1.2 million;euro94 million).
The report didn't say what positions the officials held at the Shanghai-based
company, China's third-largest airline.
Another newspaper, the 21st Century Business Herald, said three officials
from China Cargo Airlines, including a deputy general manager, had been detained
in the bribery investigation, together with two officers from China Eastern's
cargo management office.
An officer at the Changning prosecutor's publicity department said "some
officials" from China Cargo had been investigated for "serious violations of
discipline" - a term commonly used to indicate corruption.
The probe comes on the heels of the replacement of a top China Eastern
Airlines Corp. executive, Li Wenxin, following first-half losses 1.72 billion
yuan (US$215.8 million; euro168 million). The loss was mainly blamed on rising
fuel prices.
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