The president of Gome group Huang Guangyu is the richest man in China. At the end of November 2008, he was detained by Beijing’s public security authority and was said to have committed various crimes
The information from Beijing’s public security authority shows that Huang Guangyu’s case is unprecedented in the history of the P.R.C. It embodies to some extent the characteristics of “black gold politics” and “black gold media”. The relevant authorities also have alert over that case. It is said that Huang has spent billions of Yuan in bribing thousands of various-ranking officials in the past several years. Those officials are distributed in China’s central government, senior court and local governments of different places. It is also said that those officials provide protection over Huang’s commitments.
After investigation, the relevant authorities find that Huang Guangyu and his brother Huang Junqing are suspected to commit these crimes of cheating on loans, fraud, stock manipulation through arbitrage, infringement on shareholders’ rights and interests, tax dodging and evasion and disordering the financial market. In 2006, Huang obtained 489 million Yuan (USD 70 million) by fraud in a Beijing-based branch of Bank of China and illegally transferred those money to their personal accounts. The Bank of China once accused Huang Guangyu and his brother of owing it 1.3 billion Yuan (USD 185.7 million) without being returned. But Huang greased the palm of the judges in charge of this case and won the litigation. He is also said to bribe the relevant officials in the Ministry of Commerce to give fake evidence of revoking the investigation into his economic problem. In 2007, he lost a lump sum of millions of Yuan in a betting house in Macau.
Huang Guangyu and his brother also carry out their “black gold media” strategy by buying off the key persons of the propaganda system and portal websites. On November 27, 2008, Beijing’s public security authority published the news that Huang Guangyu was detained for investigation. After that, the so-called Huang Guangyu Group stirred out the trouble by issuing 90 thousand posts on the website forum to defame and insult the government. They also make use of the TV stations, main financial newspapers and portal websites that they have bought off to voice grievances for Huang Guangyu. By now the investigation authority has already got the proof of the media bribery. It is also said that Huang Guangyu Group once agitated the overseas media to give out reports saying “the Communist Party of China systematically hits the rich men in Mainland China”.
Huang Brothers are also suspected to be involved in mafia movements. During the expansion of Gome Electronics and competitions with other companies, as well as the relocation of Pengrun Real Estate, they took the mafia measures in a large scale, including intentional injuries to others’ bodies and “Immortal Jump” (a trap using women’s sexual attractions to defraud money). Huang Brothers also have relations with overseas mafia gangs and set up the center for laundering and arbitrage in Pengrun Mansion. In the past several years, the total sum of laundering and arbitrage in that building has already exceeded billions of Yuan. However, the relevant authorities attenuate that they will not engage Gome in Huang Guangyu Case to get rid of the influences upon this private enterprise’s future and thousands of employees.
The relevant authorities think that there is significant enlightenment from Huang Guangyu Case. The corruption and embezzlement must be stopped during the process in which the central government increases the domestic demand with the four trillion Yuan (USD 571.4 billion). Huang Guangyu Case can be a forewarning for those corrupt officials and businessmen wanting to offer bribery, so the Chinese people must support the investigation of this case.
