China Orders Arrest of Former STMA Inspector

Chinese provincial authorities have ordered the arrest of Pan Jiahua, a former senior disciplinary inspector at China’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, for suspected bribe-taking, reports Xinhua.

Pan’s case was transferred to the Anhui Provincial People’s Procuratorate following an investigation by the National Supervisory Commission and the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

The joint probe found that “Pan has lost his ideals and convictions, betrayed the responsibilities and duties he was entrusted with, and desecrated his position as a disciplinary inspector by engaging in discipline-violating activities.”

According to the investigators, Pan abused his position to seek benefits for owners of private tobacco businesses, took overseas trips sponsored by private business owners, arranged jobs for relatives and friends in the tobacco system, and allowed his relatives to use his influence to profiteer from the tobacco business. Pan accepted large amounts of money and valuables in return for securing interests for others in business operations, according to the CCDI.

Pan has also been expelled from the Communist Party of China for his actions.