A FORMER vice general manager with China Southern Airlines (CSA) pleaded guilty to taking bribes in return for helping others contract charter planes, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported Thursday.

    Chen Gang was accused of taking bribes amounting to 1.15 million yuan (US$176,985) and US$10,000 for providing Wu Zhiqiang, a contractor with the Shunda Enterprise Development Co., with charter flights, while Chen was vice manager of the operations department of CSA between 2000 and 2007.

    In 2006, Chen allegedly took a 100,000 yuan bribe from another flight service contractor.

    At a trial in the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court on Wednesday, Chen confessed to the charges but disagreed on the amount of money involved.

    Shunda is a subsidiary of CAAC Southwest Regional Administration in Chengdu.

    The National Audit Office started auditing CSA in the second half of 2008, when CSA’s chairman Liu Shaoyong resigned.

    Allegedly, Chen feared that the briberies over the charter services would be exposed. Chen returned 850,000 yuan to Wu in 2009 and 2010.

    Chen, who is in his 50s, pleaded guilty, but argued about the amount involved, saying he took around 800,000 yuan from Wu in bribes. He said he had high blood pressure and couldn’t remember the exact amount.

    He said he gave back the money to Wu, not because of the audit, but because his career was promising and he didn’t want a history of accepting bribes to affect his future.

    In 2013 and 2014, several CSA executives, including chief operation manager Tian Xiaodong, vice managers Xu Jiebo, Zhou Yuehai and Liu Qian, were probed for economic crimes.

    This February, Si Xianmin, general manager of CSA, was probed for alleged serious violations of Party discipline and laws.

    (Han Ximin)