Official in election scandal prosecuted

Special: China cracks down on graft

BEIJING - Tong Mingqian, a former senior official involved in electoral fraud in central China's Hunan Province, was prosecuted on Monday for dereliction of duty.

Tong was implicated in a fraud involving more than 500 lawmakers in Hengyang City between Dec. 28, 2012 and Jan. 3, 2013. Tong, then Party chief of Hengyang, was in charge of the election.

After investigating the case, the Supreme People's Procuratorate designated the Second Branch of the Beijing Municipal People's Procuratorate to institute a public prosecution against Tong.

Procuratorates informed him of his litigation rights and questioned him.

Tong was seriously irresponsible and failed to fulfil his supervisory duties, leaving room for serious bribery in the election for deputies of the Hunan Provincial People's Congress. That seriously infringed the interests of the state and its people, according to the indictment.

The case has caused severe political and social consequences as it is the largest ever electoral fraud ever seen in China. The amount of money involved in the bribery exceeded 110 million yuan (18.14 million U.S. dollars).

Tong was vice chairman the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, but was sacked in January.