The city party secretary has 10 mistresses and owns a luxurious mansion.

This seemingly incorruptible Chinese official stunned the entire population of Shanghai when he was exposed for accepting bribes, having 10 mistresses, and embezzling public funds.

From heaven to hell

Tran Luong Vu during his time as Party Secretary of Shanghai.

Chen Liangyu, born in 1946 in Zhejiang Province, China, is a former member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, and Mayor of Shanghai.

Mayor Chen Liangyu was a Chinese official beloved by the people of Shanghai for his dedication and vision in developing the city. From a remote city, Shanghai transformed into a global financial and economic center. Mr. Chen helped Shanghainese people enjoy a modern lifestyle with three essential cards: an ATM card, a transportation card, and a social security card.

Vu being escorted to court.

As an architect who graduated from the Logistics Academy, he was very interested in road systems and helped increase the average traffic speed in the city by 25 km/hour. The average living space per person also increased significantly, from 6.6 m2 to 12 m2 in 2001. Large corporations such as GM and Honeywell were persuaded by Vu to move their headquarters from Singapore to Shanghai.

The scandal broke when one-third of the city's $1.2 billion in social security funds was embezzled. An investigation dating back to 1998 revealed that Vu and his faction had misused 16 billion yuan and attempted to cover up their wrongdoing.

Building mansions on agricultural land.

Tran Luong Vu's mansion has been compared to the Summer Palace.

Tran Luong Vu's mansion is located in Pengdu Village, Maqiao District, Shanghai. Due to its exceptionally elaborate garden, it is often referred to as the "21st-century Summer Palace."

The Summer Palace (Yihe Garden) is a prominent architectural landmark in Beijing, over 800 years old and also known as the "summer palace." It is world-renowned for its elaborate and exquisite gardens spread across an area of ​​290 hectares. 75% of the Summer Palace's area is covered by water.

The villa boasts a picturesque setting.

According to Chinese media, Chen Liangyu's mansion was built starting in 2003 on 400 acres (approximately 26 hectares) of land. To acquire this land, Mr. Chen demanded the relocation of hundreds of households, even encroaching on agricultural land. The village secretary of Pengdu even voluntarily "offered" land documents to Mr. Chen in exchange for close relationships later on.

This villa complex is now a tourist attraction.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Tran Luong Vu was present and cut the ribbon to inaugurate the garden. His subordinates designed this garden with 57 bridges of different shapes, symbolizing Mr. Vu's age. Many ancient trees, oddly shaped rocks, and exotic flowers and plants were also brought to the garden. Some of these trees are hundreds of years old.

Many people on the social media platform Weibo claim that Mr. Wu's mansion is even more magnificent than the Summer Palace.

The bridge leads to the mansion.

Mr. Vu's garden featured a giant rock inscribed with the words "Huangpu River Soul," meaning the spirit of the famous Huangpu River in Shanghai. After the owner was arrested and tried in 2008, the villa was abandoned. Currently, Pengdu Village has reclaimed it and transformed it into a tourist area. Each entrance fee is 20 yuan.

Mistresses all over the country

According to Asia Weekly, Mr. Vu had 10 mistresses, spread across Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Beijing. He was accused of seduction in 2001 and had to settle the matter internally through personal connections. The compensation offered ranged from 250,000 to 500,000 yuan per sexual encounter.

Among Mr. Vu's mistresses, the most notable was Yu Lifen, a female security guard at Shanghai University. Mr. Vu arranged for Yu to become the police chief of the Shanghai University police station, and Yu quickly rose through the ranks.

Tran Luong Vu has 10 mistresses across the country.

Tran Luong Vu doted on his son, Tran Duy Luc, and appointed him as the deputy general manager of Hoa Vien Company with a salary of 400,000 yuan (approximately 800 million VND). Upon joining the company, Luc received a bonus of 600,000 yuan for "exceptional achievements." Tran Luong Vu's official wife was arranged to travel abroad frequently and had over 200,000 yuan in her account for spending.

20m² solitary confinement cell²

Tran Luong Vu shocked the entire population of Shanghai with his acts of embezzlement.

In 2008, Tran Luong Vu was tried for abusing his position from 1988 to 2006 for personal gain. He admitted to receiving over 2.39 million yuan in bribes from various organizations and individuals. This amount was sufficient for the death penalty; however, because he returned the entire sum and confessed honestly, his sentence was reduced to 18 years in prison.

Currently, Mr. Vu is being held in a cell larger than 20 square meters in Tan Thanh. This is a facility specifically for detaining Chinese officials. Each cell for high-ranking officials is equipped with clean facilities and has a supervisor outside day and night. Mr. Vu is provided with a desk lamp for reading or writing.

According to Ifeng, the cell was specially designed to prevent suicide. Even if a prisoner were to bang their head against the wall, they wouldn't suffer a fatal head injury because the walls were padded with thick cushioning. Because he was a former high-ranking official, Mr. Wu didn't have to wear a prison uniform. The former Shanghai party secretary usually chose to wear suits but wasn't given a tie for fear of suicide.

According to Kienthuc.net.vn