Former COFCO official pleads guilty to charges against him

Zhou Zheng, former deputy general manager of COFCO Corp, China’s top agricultural and food trader, pleaded guilty to bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power during his trial Thursday in Yuncheng, China. Shanxi province.

According to the indictment provided by Yuncheng prosecutors, Zhou took advantage of his position at the company from 1998 to 2023 to assist departments and individuals in areas such as project procurement, recruitment and professional promotion, and in exchange accepted bribes worth more than 6.05 million. yuan ($849,000).

From 2003 to 2021, it was established that Zhou used his position in the state-owned enterprise to defraud public funds of more than 2.41 million yuan through various means, including pretending to increase salary bonuses and listing falsely made the expenses, prosecutors said.

Furthermore, between 2013 and 2014, he was found to have abused his power to promote certain projects of the company, resulting in a loss of state-owned assets worth more than 101 million yuan, they added.

They provided evidence to the Yuncheng Intermediate People’s Court, emphasizing that Zhou should be held criminally responsible for corruption, embezzlement and abuse of power.

During the trial, Zhou and his lawyer also shared their opinions on the evidence, and Zhou confessed to the crimes in his closing statement.

The court said the verdict would be announced later.

More than 40 people, including members of Zhou’s family, national lawmakers, political advisers and journalists, attended the trial.