Misuse of relief funds disclosed

The auditing authority said yesterday that it had uncovered three cases of the illegal use of quake relief funds involving nearly 300,000 yuan ($43,500).

The findings were published on the website of the National Audit Office (NAO) - the first audit results involving the huge amount of relief funds for regions hit by the massive earthquake exactly a month earlier.

The NAO said malpractices were found in a local office of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) in Henan and a branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Mianyang, one of the worst-hit areas.