An article published by Chenzhou Daily on October 14, 2003, reported on Li's
visit to the city's four key projects, and Li's remarks on creating a more
favourable environment for foreign investment.
The investigation later found that Li Dalun and two other senior city
officials, Lei Yuanli and Fan Jiasheng, had accepted bribes from the owners of
the four projects.
Citizens and other officials of Chenzhou criticized the four projects as a
huge waste of money and effort.
While amiable to the investors and entrepreneurs who filled his pockets, Li
was known to bully his subordinates and the media.
"He scolded people at every meeting, even though he did not use obscenities,"
said an official quoted by Southern Weekend.
In the controversial "Jiahe forced eviction incident," which was discussed
widely, it was Li who uttered the words: "Whoever dares to affect Jiahe a short
while, I will affect him for his whole life."
He also attempted to prevent media coverage of the cause of mine accidents
and dubious property allocations.
In 2004, Li required all government officials under his jurisdiction not to
accept any interviews from the media without the permission of the city
government's publicity office.
As time passed, Li made decisions without consulting other officials that
protected his friends and escalated the decay of the municipal government, said
Oriental Outlook, a magazine published by the Xinhua News Agency.
Among Li's allies was the city's No 2 official, Zeng Jinchun, the
disciplinary committee secretary.
Zeng, whom the provincial disciplinary committee detained on September 19,
was famous for using the double designation to engage in the control and raiding
of mining interests, Southern Weekend reported.
He was also known for using it as a punishment against those who offended or
disobeyed him, or on officials who refused to hand over resources he wanted.
Zeng had many relatives in the city government who he leveraged to monitor
government officials.
The spotlight shone on the scandal in December 2003, when a county government
official was found killed in his vehicle, followed by the murder of Xiao
Pengjin, the deputy municipal Party secretary, in his suite in a local hotel.
Right before Xiao was killed, he visited Li Shubiao, former deputy director
of the housing pension administration centre, who lived in the same hotel. That
clue led investigators to Li, who later confessed that he had embezzled about
120 million yuan (US$15million) of the city's housing funds to gamble in the
Macao Special Administrative Region.
Li Shubiao's confession eventually led to the end of the Li Dalun era and the
collapse of the collective image of the area's local government officials.
On June 19, the provincial disciplinary committee required all officials who
had given money to Li Dalun to confess within 10 days so that they might receive
reduced penalties.
The number of officials who came forward was so large that the government had
to prolong the grace period for another week. By early July, more than 80
officials had confessed to giving Li money.
Even officials who professed to be clean felt some fallout.
"My 80-year-old mother called me asking whether I had taken any bribes," one
Chenzhou government official said.
Another said: "You felt isolated if you weren't involved in bribery."
Yet another summarized: "The reputation of the city's officials had been
tainted, and their credibility was gone. Li educated others all the time but
couldn't educate himself to be an honest man."
