Education deputy ousted for market monopoly allegations

A deputy director of the education bureau in Zijin county, Guangdong province, has been removed from his post for monopolizing the local school uniform market, Guangzhou Daily reported.

Cai Zhitao, who is suspected of having serious economic problems, will be transferred to the judicial department for further investigation and possible prosecution, according to the county's anti-graft body, the Zijin commission for discipline inspection.

Cai was investigated for having illegally earned more than 100 million yuan ($16 million) after he required all schools in the county to purchase school uniforms only from the company his father ran starting from 2005, in the name of further standardizing local school uniform production and sales.

Cai was found to have five commercial properties?- three villas and two business complexes?- plus a luxury car valued at more than 1 million yuan and two parking lots, after illegally monopolizing the local school uniform market for the past eight years.

Zijin, under the administration of the remote Heyuan city in the eastern part of Guangdong, has more than 60 registered primary and high schools with more than 109,000 students. Every student was required to buy at least four sets of school uniforms at an expensive price.

Cai's case was exposed after his son's ex-girlfriend posted about it online.