If it's true that hell has no fury like a woman scorned, imagine
the trouble 11 angry mistresses could cause.
In the case of a former top political adviser in Shaanxi Province, it was enough to cost him
his job and put him under investigation for bribery and dereliction
of duty.
Pang Jiayu, 63, has been fired from his government post for
allegedly taking about 480,000 yuan (US$63,675) in bribes and
illegally approving the establishment of a securities company that
later ran up debts topping 310 million yuan, among other
improprieties, the People's Daily reported on its Website
on Thursday.
His downfall came at the hands of a former mistress who rounded
up the others to complain about Pang's activities, figuring there
was strength in numbers, the article said.
The ringleader, identified only by the pseudonym Zeng Qian, was
angry because her husband was convicted of financial crimes and
sentenced to death in a scheme that involved Pang, the article
said. Pang promised to use his influence to get the husband a
lighter sentence in exchange for throwing the investigators off
Pang's track, according to the woman. The court was apparently not
in on the deal.
The woman said she met Pang in 1994 when he was elected mayor of
Baoji. Zeng's husband, Li Simin, also an alias, who was then one of
Pang's subordinates, reportedly had slighted Pang, and Pang held a
grudge against him.
On New Year's Day 1995, Pang organized a meeting of Baoji's
government officials in a mountain resort and encouraged them to
bring their wives. However, after dinner, Li was recalled by the
city government to Baoji to handle "an emergency."
Then Pang allegedly entered Zeng's hotel room at the resort and
handed her a photo showing Li visiting a prostitute, a liaison he
reportedly set up himself.
Zeng broke into tears over her unfaithful husband, the report
said. Pretending to console her, Pang poured her a cup of tea
spiked with a sleep-inducing drug.
When Zeng woke up, she found a naked Pang sleeping beside her,
the report said. The pair then began an affair, it said.
In March 1998, Pang was promoted to the post of Baoji's Party
chief. To support his growing army of mistresses, he helped open an
investment company and put it under Li's name and management. Pang
reportedly also made the husbands of two other mistresses top
executives.
In May 2003, soon after Pang was named vice chairman of the
provincial committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference, Baoji citizens complained to the central government
that the illegal operation of the company led to the loss of 90
million yuan in Treasury bonds.
A week after the complaint, authorities arrested Li and the two
other company executives.
When Zeng consulted Pang, the official instructed her to
persuade Li to shoulder all the responsibility for the wrongdoing,
she said. Pang promised the woman he would use his connections to
make sure Li received only life imprisonment.
Li pleaded guilty but was given a death sentence. The other two
executives were given terms of 16 years and 10 years.
Zeng encouraged the wives of the two executives and Pang's eight
other mistresses to expose his wrongdoings.
(Shanghai Daily September 9, 2007)