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Chinese gangster dame jailed

TANIA BRANIGAN - Nov 06 2009 06:00

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A string of gambling dens; a young lover lavished with gifts; brutal tactics that included the beating of an undercover cop investigating the powerful crime syndicate. Xie Caiping had all the hallmarks of a typical gang boss -- with one big difference: she was a woman.

The "Godmother of the underworld" has been jailed for 18 years, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported this week -- the latest in a string of criminals caught in a crackdown in the south-western city of Chongqing.

While the trials in general have grabbed attention, residents have been agog at details of 46-year-old Xie's case, with several expressing amazement that a woman could head a "black society". Lurid reports in local media have included claims that she kept 16 lovers. Police say she had just one, a 26-year-old said to resemble a popular actor.

Luo Xuan reportedly accepted gifts, including a house, but blamed Xie when he stood trial alongside her. He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years.

Xie is the sister-in-law of Wen Qiang, for many years the city's deputy police chief and then director of its justice bureau, until his detention in August. He has been accused of sheltering gangs and will stand trial shortly on a string of charges.

On one occasion, the Southern Weekend newspaper reported, Xie left town with a suitcase stuffed with cash when Wen warned that a police raid was planned. On another, her gang members beat an undercover officer unconscious, dumping him in the countryside.

Such was her confidence that one gambling hall was in a hotel opposite the Chongqing high court and next to the municipal prosecutor's office.

Caijing magazine reported that at one of her dens the minimum stake was 20 000 yuan (about R23 000) and the court said the gang had netted more than two million yuan (about R2.6-million) in profits. It fined Xie just over one million yuan.

Xie was convicted of organising and leading a criminal syndicate, running gambling dens, illegal imprisonment, harbouring people taking illegal drugs and giving bribes to officials, said Xinhua.

CONTINUES BELOW

Living up to the stereotype of the hardbitten gangster, she swore in court, to the displeasure of the judge. One associate described her as "good at debating and drinking, and very helpful to friends".

Twenty others were sentenced to between one and 13 years in prison, according to the court's website. They included two police officers convicted of taking bribes to shelter Xie's gang. "This kind of behaviour wouldn't have been tolerated even under the Qing dynasty [China's last, weak, imperial dynasty]," said Bo Xilai, the party secretary of Chongqing, who has headed the anti-crime drive.

Some think the politburo member hopes the high-profile campaign will help to elevate him in the run-up to 2012, when the transition of power to China's next generation of leaders is due to take place.

Chen Yanling, a Chongqing resident who said she suffered at the hands of gangsters and corrupt police, said she and other victims waiting outside court were angered by Xie's sentence. "We didn't believe our ears when we first heard it's just 18 years. How many crimes has she committed?" Chen told Associated Press.

Last month the Chongqing courts sentenced six gangsters to death for murder, machete attacks and price fixing. Senior police and officials and powerful business people were among the 1500 people detained in the huge crackdown.

But the case has underlined the extent to which crime is entrenched in modern China and corrupt officials have cooperated with criminals.

"The facts prove that after the last round of crackdowns [in Chongqing in 2000], Triad-related activities are still going strong, and there are still police protecting them," Chen Zhonglin, dean of the law school at Chongqing University, told Caijing. -- © Guardian News & Media 2009

Additional research by Cui Zheng

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Chinese gangster dame jailed

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