Beijing: Chinese prosecutors indicted Friday former Interpol president Meng Hongwei on charges of accepting bribes, the latest development in a case that began with his disappearance while on a journey to the Chinese capital.
The announcement from the prosecutor’s office in the northeastern city of Tianjin said Meng had abused his positions, including as a vice- minister of public security and head of the maritime police to ‘illegally accept cash and property in return for performing favors for others’. “The amounts were especially huge,” the statement said.
Earlier, the ruling Communist Party’s disciplinary committee said an investigation found that Meng abused his power in order to satisfy his family’s ‘extravagant lifestyle’.
Meng was formally arrested last month after being expelled from public office and the party. Meng retained his title as a vice-minister of public security while he was with the Interpol.
Elected president of the international police organisation in 2016, Meng had his four-year term cut short when he disappeared into custody after traveling to China from the body’s headquarters in France at the end of September, 2018. Interpol was not informed and was forced to make a formal request to China for information about Meng’s whereabouts.
There are suspicions Meng had fallen out of political favour with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has carried out a wide-ranging crackdown on corruption and perceived disloyalty that observers say is calculated to strengthen party control while bringing down potential challengers to his authority.
Meng’s wife has accused Chinese authorities of lying and questioned whether her husband was still alive. Grace Meng has remained in France with their two boys since her husband’s detention.