Official claims he helped mistress for love, not money

A former senior health official admitted he had a mistress and he helped her not for money but for her true love in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.

Qiu Chunlei, former deputy director of Guangzhou City Bureau of Health, was tried at Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court on Wednesday for abusing his power and accepting bribes valued at 4.1 million yuan ($672,131) from his mistress Cao Shujun, a local medical equipment supplier, after Qiu had used his power to help Cao win three public biddings from Guangzhou's Conghua, Huadu and Zengcheng district health bureaus for purchasing medical equipment when he was in office.

With the help of Qiu who was in charge of purchasing medical equipment for the city's rural health bureaus and hospitals, Cao illegally earned more than 10 million yuan worth of profits after signing sales contracts valued at more than 45 million yuan with the three district bureaus of health.

"We loved each other and I never accepted bribe from Cao, as we were lovers. And Cao's best way to thank me is that she would like to live together with me," Qiu told the court.

Qiu, 51, became the first corrupt official who publicly admitted to have extramarital affair which is usually a taboo for most of the Chinese residents.

Qiu said he first met Cao in 2005 and they quickly developed to become lovers in six months. And after Cao asked, Qiu introduced his mistress to the district health bureau heads of Huadu, Conghua and Zengcheng, and major hospital presidents in the three districts.

Qiu was investigated and removed from his post by the end of 2013.

During his court appearance, Qiu said he once admitted to have taken the bribes from Cao because he was threatened by force by the officials from the city's anti-graft body.

Qiu denied he was a corrupt official and he once won a second class merit citation during Guangzhou's fight against SARS in 2003.

Qiu said his family live in an apartment with a floor space of about 80 square meters and he never had a large sum of bank savings.

Qiu was also charged with accepting a total of 50,000 yuan from a relative surnamed Chen after he had illegally helped Chen's son arrange a job in a local hospital in 2009.

The court has not issued a verdict yet.

Earlier this year, Cao has been sentenced to 10 years, plus six months, in jail for bribing government officials in Guangzhou's Liwan district court.