Dandruff fools Chinese

Press, 19 August 1983, Page 15

Dandruff fools Chinese

From

JONATHAN MIRSKY,

in Peking

A dandruff-cure con-man who embezzled $1,500,000 from State funds, and a gang which specialised in smuggling toad venom, are among the 192,000 cases of economic crime uncovered in the first four months of this year by China’s security services. Between January and April, according to a report by the Communist Party’s Discipline Inspection Committee, nearly 30,000 embezzlers and smugglers were sentenced.

Some 71,000 party members were involved in illegal matters; 8500 of these were expelled from the party. Well over $2 billion worth of money and embezzled and smuggled goods have been recovered.

The man the party calls “Big Swindler,” Chen Menghu, developed

the dandruff-cure game. Disguising himself as a party member and State official — to whom all Chinese doors would at once swing open — Chen had illegally obtained $1,500,000 worth of supplies and equipment for his bogus “Chinese Dandruff Research Institute.”

By the, time he was caught, according to the party’s indictment, he had fooled 50 Government officers and 200 officials.

Dandruff is not the only affliction which attracts Chinese

criminals. Throughout South-East Asia there exists a bottomless demand for rare Chinese traditional medicines. During the last three years customs officers have seized half a ton of illegally exported remedies, including toad venom and caterpillar fungus. Yet these are paltry crimes compared to those committed by ambitious operators like Zhou Zhirong of the Chinese Electronic Import-Export Corporation near Canton, recently convicted of

smuggling and tax evasion to the tune of $l5 million. The discipline committee estimates that certain State and local organisations have been involved in more than $l5OO million of foreignexchange fiddling. What is required, the party contends, is to “give full play to the might of the policy and handle typical cases in a big way to frighten the criminals and educate the masses.” The party’s most frightening big way is shooting the criminal in the back of the neck before a large crowd; while millions more watch on television.