Tan Mingchun on Trial: The Once Halted Pingyangba Bridge
Message from Jingchu Network (Chutian Jinbao reporter Pu Zhe, correspondents Wu Wei and Yuan Ming): Summary - As the Director of the Transportation Bureau, he could not resist the bribery attempts. Within just two years, he accepted over 260,000 yuan in bribes, allowing unqualified contractors into engineering projects. This ultimately led to the halt of two bridge constructions, causing a one-year delay in project timelines and inconveniencing the travel of tens of thousands of people. From indulging in gambling for small sums of several thousand yuan to accepting bribes in the tens of thousands, the downfall trajectory of Tan Mingchun, the former director of the Badong County Transportation Bureau, is thought-provoking.
Director Accepts Bribes, Leading to Two Bridge Halts
On August 11, the Badong County Court legally announced its verdict, finding Tan Mingchun guilty of taking bribes. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, and the illegal bribe amounting to 267,000 yuan was confiscated.
A year ago, Tan Mingchun was still the deputy secretary of the party committee of the directly affiliated organs of Badong County and a county People's Congress representative. His downfall stemmed from his actions while serving as the director of the transportation bureau.
Upon investigation, it was found that between 2007 and 2008, in order to gain preferential treatment in pre-borrowed funds and exemption from performance bonds for the Pingyangba Bridge connecting line project, Manager Chen of a certain company in Badong County bribed Tan Mingchun three times, totaling 30,000 yuan.
In 2008, Project Manager Wan, while constructing the Ganzi Kou Bridge connecting line along the Yangtze River highway, bribed Tan Mingchun three times, totaling 30,000 yuan, in order to increase the volume of work and avoid paying the performance bond.
From July to December 2007, Stockholder Dong of the Badong County Construction Bureau bribed Tan Mingchun twice, totaling 30,000 yuan, in gratitude for introducing the Cha Shui Road and Da Mo Road survey and design business.
In August 2007 and March 2009, Tan Mingchun directly assigned the survey and design business of the Yesan Pass railway station connecting line and the feasibility study report of the road project from Shennong Stream to Shennongjia to Zhang from Yichang. To thank Tan Mingchun for his favor, Zhang bribed him four times between 2007 and 2009, totaling 105,000 yuan, in amounts of 5,000 yuan, 20,000 yuan, 30,000 yuan, and 50,000 yuan respectively.
Additionally, as the director of the county transportation bureau, Tan Mingchun, from June 2007 to April 2009, during the bidding and construction process of the Pingyangba Bridge and Ganzi Kou Bridge reconstruction projects in Badong County, received bribes of 72,000 yuan from the contractor and allowed a company’s Hainan Engineering Bureau with forged qualifications and a forged "Safety Production License" to undertake the project, as well as permitted Wang to serve as the project manager of the two bridges with a forged project manager qualification certificate.
The prosecution discovered during their investigation that due to Tan Mingchun receiving bribes and failing to strictly supervise, two bridges were forced to halt construction and had to be re-tendered, delaying their timely completion.
Investigation Leads to Exposure of Corrupt Director
Tan Mingchun's act of taking bribes came to light due to public reports. In 2009, the Anti-Graft Bureau of the Badong County Procuratorate received clues indicating corruption in the construction of the Pingyangba Bridge and Ganzi Kou Bridge. After preliminary investigations, it was found that in 2007, these two bridges failed to tender because large bridge construction companies considered the bids too low at 8.5 million yuan and 8.8 million yuan respectively. Subsequently, the county transportation bureau used negotiation bidding to contract the Pingyangba Bridge construction project to Wang and others (three parties participated in the negotiation). Later, Wang easily "won" the bid for the Ganzi Kou Bridge construction project and became its contractor.
After winning the bid, the focus shifted to funding. To expedite the disbursement of construction funds, Wang engaged in improper economic transactions with relevant personnel. Investigators also discovered that Wang's credentials from a certain company's Hainan Engineering Bureau were fake, as was his senior engineer certificate.
Various signs indicated significant suspicion of bribery and embezzlement in the Pingyangba Bridge and Ganzi Kou Bridge projects, leading the then Director of the Transportation Bureau, Tan Mingchun, to come under scrutiny.
On July 5, 2009, the prosecution decided to initiate an investigation. The special task force decided to first confront contractor Wang. During questioning, Wang avoided key issues. Investigators decided to use psychological pressure: they detained Wang at the procuratorate's office area and utilized evidence already in their possession, successfully breaking Wang's psychological defenses. Wang eventually confessed to bribing Tan Mingchun more than 70,000 yuan.
The next day, the prosecution decided to criminally detain Tan Mingchun. The special task force immediately summoned Tan Mingchun for questioning. Under intense legal pressure, Tan Mingchun truthfully confessed to using his position as director of the transportation bureau to accept over 200,000 yuan in bribes from Wang, Dong, Wan, Zhang, and others during the contracting of road and bridge projects and the commissioning of highway surveys and designs.
On July 20, 2009, Tan Mingchun was arrested by the Badong County Procuratorate. During the investigation phase, Tan Mingchun actively persuaded his wife to raise money to return 191,000 yuan of ill-gotten gains.
Bribery Amount Doubled Continuously, Becoming Increasingly Bold in Taking Money
In late July 2009, after Tan Mingchun was caught by the authorities, the two bridges were able to be re-tendered and continued construction. The Pingyangba Bridge finally closed on December 12, 2009, and officially opened to traffic on January 29, 2010. By this time, the originally scheduled completion date had been delayed by a full year. On April 14, the Ganzi Kou Bridge successfully closed, and it was completed and opened to traffic on May 28.
It is understood that these two bridges are part of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area resettlement reconstruction project. Upon completion, they will thoroughly solve the travel problems of over ten thousand villagers from the three villages of Chenwan, Hongsha, and Maoping in the Alongdu River area after the reservoir water level rises to 175 meters.
It was precisely during the planning and construction of these two bridges that Tan Mingchun gradually strayed onto the wrong path.
During the bidding process for the two bridges, Tan Mingchun received a total of 72,000 yuan in bribes from Wang. Investigations revealed that 62,000 yuan of this amount was "given" to Tan Mingchun by Wang at the poker table. From the initial few thousand yuan "test," to later amounts reaching ten thousand yuan each time, Tan Mingchun's boldness grew.
Subsequently, within just a year or two, Tan Mingchun's bribery amounts escalated from 2,000 yuan, 5,000 yuan, 10,000 yuan, 20,000 yuan, 30,000 yuan, to 50,000 yuan. The method of bribery also transitioned from the poker table to direct receipt.
Looking back at Tan Mingchun's corrupt journey, it was a "frog in boiling water" process. Those who sought his favors and related business undertakers were the "warm water," while he, the "frog," under the influence of this warm water, became brotherly with various types of bosses and related business undertakers, engaging in eating, drinking, playing, and gambling. He lost the basic principles of an official and fell into crime under the "warm water."
On March 17, 2010, Tan Mingchun's bribery case was publicly tried in the first courtroom of the Badong County People's Court. After the trial, many spectators believed: he was destroyed by gambling and fell victim to greed...