THE chief accountant of China Southern Airlines, Xu Jiebo, stood trial Wednesday on charges of accepting over 7 million yuan (US$1.08 million) in bribes between 2001 and 2014, the Daily Sunshine reported Thursday.

    The trial took place at Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court and Xu admitted guilt. The prosecutors accused Xu of taking bribes by colluding with big corporations and businessmen during time as the airline’s chief accountant and finance department general manager.

    Over 13 years, Xu connected businessmen and companies involved in construction projects and the airplane rental business. He is accused of receiving over 4.19 million yuan and HK$3.2 million in exchange for helping these individuals and companies win contracts from the airline.

    According to the prosecutors, a legal representative surnamed Zhu, from an airline investment company in Beijing, spent more than 300,000 yuan renovating a villa for Xu in 2002 in return for Xu allowing the company to win a construction contract with the airline. Another person gave Xu a watch worth 114,000 yuan after Xu helped the company earn more money from a construction project.

    A businessman surnamed Zheng met Xu at a hotel in Guangzhou in 2013 and left Xu a box containing 1 million yuan in cash. Xu later asked his niece to take the money.

    Xu also made money by helping airplane rental companies rent aircraft to China Southern Airlines, according to the trial.

    The China Aircraft Leasing Group rented two airplanes to China Southern Airlines in 2007. A manager, surnamed Pan, transferred HK$1.6 million to Xu’s HSBC bank account over five years and gave him HK$500,000 in cash in August 2013 at a hotel in Hong Kong.

    Xu also received 100,000 worth of gold from a Tianjin company’s chairman.

    In 2008, with Xu’s help, the Beijing airline investment company received more than 3 million yuan from the China Development Bank Leasing Group. Xu later asked Zhu, the legal representative, to give him 2 million yuan so Xu could buy property for his girlfriend.

    Zhu transferred 1.98 million yuan to Xu’s girlfriend. The woman bought property in Guangzhou the same year.

    (Zhang Qian)