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Web user downfall of fired auditor

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-20 07:38

An auditor was sacked for corruption revealed by Web users, making him the second Chinese official to bow out from online supervision in less than two months.

Wei Juntu, the auditing chief in Dongyang, Zhejiang province, was removed from his post after he was found using public expenses to enjoy massages, the National Audit Office said on Wednesday.

Images of four invoices carrying Wei's signature were posted online on Jan 22.

The four bills - dated from April to September 2003, the year Wei was appointed the head of the city's audit office - totaled 7,126 yuan ($1,048). A Web user going by the moniker "081209" posted the copies of the bills on Tianya, a Chinese online forum.

Wei put down his office phone numbers on the bills, which showed he had enjoyed "European-style" massage and foot massage. The Web user did not say why he or she revealed the case five years later.

A probe of the matter launched by provincial government one day after the posting found that Wei enjoyed massage at public expense, the National Audit Office said. Wei paid the money back to the local discipline commission in January.

Although it is a rare case, the national office called for local governments to strengthen supervision of auditors.

Zhou Jiugeng, former director of the real estate management bureau in Jiangsu province, was fired after online photographs revealed his lavish lifestyle.

The removal of Wei and Zhou sparked heated discussion on the Internet.

"Ciqian" wrote on the Sohu forum that fighting corruption is the top priority for the Party, and sacking Wei just marks a beginning.