Court officer probed over 'missing' files

Wang Linqing, an officer with the top court, is being probed for alleged duty-related violations, five months after he told a story about "mysteriously missing" court documents that sparked wide public concern of possible judicial corruption.

The Beijing Public Security Bureau has found Wang, from the No 1 Civil Division of the Supreme People's Court, took some files relating to a coal mining lawsuit home in November 2016 due to his dissatisfaction toward his work at the SPC.

The documents were later destroyed by Wang to eliminate evidence, Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday, quoting official sources.

From June to August 2018, Wang was asked by Zhao Faqi, one of the litigants in the coal mining dispute who was dissatisfied with the court ruling, to photograph and copy classified file documents of the top court.

He also conspired with Zhao to enter other top court offices to steal related documents from computers, the report said.

In December, Wang and Zhao fabricated a story about "mysteriously missing" court documents and claimed Wang experienced retaliation from his colleagues.

They sent the materials to Cui Yongyuan, a well-known former news anchor, who then published the materials on his micro blog, which has about 20 million followers, according to the report.

The bizarre allegations received huge public attention, and central authorities soon set up a joint investigation group led by the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

On Feb 22, the group released an initial conclusion, saying that what Wang said in the story was untrue and he made it up due to his personal resentments at work.

It also found the top court's verdict in the coal mine ownership dispute in Shaanxi province was proper, and the internal instructions from senior court officials in the case were also in accordance with laws and regulations.

Friday's latest release shows that Wang is now under probe by the Beijing Supervisory Commission for suspected duty-related violations.

Police are also investigating Zhao on suspicion of illegally obtaining State secrets, it said.

On Friday, Cui apologized and showed regret, saying he did not verify the materials from Wang and Zhao.

As a teacher at Communication University of China, Cui said in a statement that he would focus more on teaching and academic studies, adding he accepted and supported the investigation result.