ZHENGZHOU -- A former head of Shangcai County, one of the counties most plagued by AIDS in central China's Henan Province, has been arrested for taking bribes, a local anti-corruption official revealed on Thursday.

Yang Songquan, former secretary of the Shangcai county committee of the Communist Party of China, was found to have taken bribes over a river treatment project, said Ding Lei, director of the anti-corruption department of the Zhumadian Municipal People's Procuratorate.

But there is no evidence to suggest that Yang has embezzled money allocated by the central and provincial government for AIDS prevention and treatment, Ding said.

Yang was arrested on August 4, 2006. Investigations into Yang are ongoing, according to Ding.

Shangcai County had 6,925 HIV/AIDS infected people or patients by the end of July, who live mainly in 22 villages across the county. Most of the people contracted AIDS because of contaminated blood donations or transfusions before 1995.

The number of HIV/AIDS cases stood at 35,000 in Henan in 2005, according to the provincial health department.

Yang was sacked from office in August 2005 after many complaints from local people about the county's slow social and economic development. Yang was also suspected to have embezzled money earmarked for AIDS prevention and treatment.

Investigations indicate that Yang took a bribe of at least 100,000 yuan (12,500 U.S. dollars) for the Xiaohong River treatment project, said Ding.

Yang was also found to have received monetary gifts at his father's funeral and his daughter's marriage, which all violated the self-disciplinary regulations for leading cadres, said Ding.

So far, nothing points to funds for AIDS treatment and prevention being embezzled or misused in Shangcai County, said Ding.