A Wenzhou man suspected of corruption surrendered himself to police this past month, six years after criminal allegations had arisen against him and eight years after he had fled to Germany.

Yang Xiuzhu.[File photo]

The suspect, Yang Shenghua, was taken into custody on July 21.

"Yang was arrested on charges of serious corruption and embezzlement of public funds and is now under further investigation," said a senior official surnamed Cao with the Wenzhou People's Procuratorate.

Cao said the charges Yang Shenghua faces are related to corruption allegations that have been made against a former senior official in Zhejiang named Yang Xiuzhu. Since the two cases are tightly interwoven, the judicial system will need a fairly lengthy amount of time to deal with Yang Shenghua's case.

Yang Shenghua, before becoming the legal representative of the Wenzhou Modern City Construction and Development Co, had been the driver of Yang Xiuzhu, a former Wenzhou deputy mayor and deputy head of what was then the Zhejiang provincial construction department. Yang Xiuzhu later escaped abroad to avoid being punished for taking 253.2 million yuan (US$39 million) in bribes in 2003.

According to Wenzhou prosecutors, Yang Xiuzhu had taken advantage of her position to help Yang Shenghua become the boss of two companies.

From 1999 to 2003, Yang Shenghua was the manager of the Wenzhou Modern City Construction and Development Co and Wenzhou Modern Municipal Infrastructure Co. During that time, he is alleged to have clandestinely transferred the State's shares in both companies to found a private real estate business. He is also suspected of taking about 200 million yuan in State assets, prosecutors said.

Yang Xiuzhu held the post of deputy mayor of Wenzhou from 1995 to 1998 and was in charge of urban planning and construction for the city.

In 1998, Yang Xiuzhu became the vice-director of the Zhejiang provincial construction department, which was merged into what is now called the provincial department of housing and urban-rural department. Five years later, she fled to the Netherlands with her family after authorities had begun investigating her.

She remains at large in an unidentified foreign country.

Some are puzzled over what possessed Yang Shenghua to return.

"I've heard rumors that Yang Shenghua came back to China because he had money troubles in Germany and he had failed to get used to life in a foreign country," said Ma Songliang, a middle-aged businessman in Wenzhou.

Ma said the arrest of Yang Shenghua was a bit of good news for local residents, in part because it means progress will likely be made in the long-standing corruption case against Yang Xiuzhu.

Some observers even think the return of Yang Shenghua will lead to a fast repatriation of Yang Xiuzhu.

"I think Yang Xiuzhu will be deported back to China sooner or later just as Lai Changxing was," said Huang Xuemin, a 26-year-old resident in Wenzhou, referring to a corruption suspect who was arrested by Chinese authorities in July after living for years as a fugitive in Canada.

When asked why he came back, Yang Shenghua said he had been divorced and his son had been recently married and was living happily with his family. Yang said he no longer has to worry about his family, which made now a good time to turn himself in, the Wenzhou Daily reported.