Jiangxi court busts major environmental impact assessment fraud

A court in eastern China has sentenced eight people to prison for their roles in a massive environmental impact assessment (EIA) forgery scheme involving hundreds of companies across the country.

The Jiujiang Intermediate People's Court in Jiangxi province said the case is the first in the province to result in criminal charges for EIA fraud.

According to the court, over a period of less than a year, the criminals issued fraudulent EIA reports to 753 companies nationwide with the help of just one qualified EIA professional.

In December 2019, individuals surnamed Yu and Xiao established Zhanhang Environmental Protection Technology Co in Jiujiang. They allegedly partnered with an EIA professional, surnamed Chang, in Shandong province, to fraudulently issue over 700 EIA reports from December 2019 to October 2020. The illegal activities generated over 700,000 yuan ($97,000) in illicit profits.

Authorities said Chang did not conduct proper site surveys or collect data for the reports. Instead, she allegedly allowed Xiao to access her EIA credit platform account and forge her signature on the documents.

Police investigations revealed that Yu and her accomplices registered five other EIA companies in other provinces to expand their operations and avoid detection.

"Environmental protection departments will punish EIA units that violate regulations," said Kong Xiangfeng, an officer with the Jiujiang Public Security Bureau. "To avoid losing their licenses, they used different shell companies to accept projects."

The eight individuals involved, including Yu, Xiao, and Chang, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 18 months to 26 months for providing false documents. They were also fined between 80,000 yuan and 350,000 yuan and barred from engaging in EIA work for life.

The case highlights growing efforts by Chinese authorities to crack down on EIA fraud. In May 2022, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced a landmark case against Jinhua Environmental Technology Co in Shandong province, taking legal action against the entire chain involved in the forgery scheme.

Jiangxi province has also implemented stricter measures, including on-site investigations for EIA professionals who submit reports.

"Some EIA professionals were caught off guard and could not even provide basic information about the projects," said Huang Huang, head of the EIA department of the Jiujiang ecology and environment bureau. "This system helps weed out unqualified professionals and reduce EIA forgery in the early stages."