Portrait of corrupt Chinese official with more than 4,000 bottles of precious wine in his house

Tuan Tran• DNUM_CAZBCZCACC 06:42

Not only did former Vice Governor of Guizhou Wang Xiaoguang commit the crimes of accepting and giving bribes, he also committed a number of insider trading transactions.

According to information posted on the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), Wang Xiaoguang was the first person to be investigated by the agency after its establishment. On March 23, 2018, the commission was established, and more than a week later, on April 1 of the same year, Wang received a notice of investigation.

Former official Wang Xiaoguang. Photo: CCTV

According to the CCDI, Wang Xiaoguang was a person who loved to drink, and only drank the expensive old Maotai. Every time he attended a party, Wang would ask his subordinates to buy a whole case of wine. When the party ended and there were a few bottles left in the case, Wang would ask his subordinates to put them all in his car to take home.

Vuong attended parties almost every day, so every month he had dozens of bottles of wine. In addition to the wine brought by many officials and businessmen as bribes, the amount of precious wine in Vuong's house reached 4,000 bottles stored in hundreds of barrels.

A corner of the wine cellar at Vuong's house. Photo: CCTV

So Wang switched to the wine business without capital. He opened four wine shops in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, and let his family manage them.

“Based on reports from citizens and some officials about Wang Xiaoguang’s behavior, we have determined that Wang is no longer suitable to continue serving as a member of the Standing Committee of the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee and a delegate to the 19th National Congress, so we have proposed to disqualify him,” said Wang Hong, deputy director of the CCDI’s Office of Supervision and Inspection.

“When I learned that my membership in the Standing Committee of the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee had been revoked, I realized that I was being watched by the authorities,” Wang Xiaoguang told the production crew of the documentary “National Supervision.”

After sensing that he was being investigated by anti-corruption agencies, Vuong ordered his family to pour the contents of hundreds of bottles of old Maotai down the drain to destroy the evidence.

“While Wang was busy pouring the precious wine down the drain with his family, his wife complained that it would be a waste to throw it away, there was no way to finish it, no one would take it if it was given away, and pouring it down the drain would take forever,” Deputy Director of CCDI Xia Xiaodong recounted the details Wang had revealed to the investigation agency.

According to China Central Television (CCTV), Wang was expelled from the Party and removed from his position as Vice Governor of Guizhou in September 2018, and was prosecuted in November of the same year.

Wang stands in court. Photo: Baidu

In April 2019, Wang was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined 173.5 million yuan by the Chongqing Municipal No. 1 People's Court for accepting bribes, giving bribes, and conducting some insider trading, which is the act of buying and selling shares of a public company or securities of a public company based on non-public events related to the company in question, during his tenure.