Complex web unravels as trial of China's disgraced security tsar follows the money
Zhou Yongkang's links to political, business and energy figures are laid bare
Zhou Yongkang's family members and close associates were named in the court's verdict as key witnesses to his criminal charges, exposing Zhou's connections to the political, business and energy sectors.
Sichuan businessman Wu Bing was called as a witness to testify in court on Zhou's bribery charge, while Zhou's eldest son Zhou Bin and his wife Jia Xiaoye testified in a video played during the trial as evidence, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
Wu, 52, was the chairman of the Zhongxu Investment Corporation based in Chengdu , Sichuan. Under the banner of Zhongxu, his business empire covered a wide range of industries including power station construction, real estate development and entertainment.
Wu reportedly took care of money laundering for Zhou Yongkang and his son.
The court ruled that Zhou had taken bribes worth 731,100 yuan (HK$923,000) from his close ally Jiang Jiemin in return for "seeking profits" for Wu Bing, Ding Xuefeng, Wen Qingshan, Zhou Hao and Jiang.
Wu, Ding, Wen and Zhou Hao also offered bribes worth 129 million yuan to Zhou's eldest son and wife, the court said.
Jiang, 59, former head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, is a prominent protégé of Zhou and a key member of the so-called Petroleum Gang, a Communist Party faction named by Xinhua in January.
He is also the former chairman of the state-run China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), a power base for Zhou, who was a top official there for 10 years. Jiang stood trial for corruption and abuse of power in April.
Ding, 52, is the former mayor of Luliang city in coal-rich Shanxi province. He was detained in December 2013, implicated in a corruption investigation against the former deputy national police chief Li Dongsheng , who is also closely linked to Zhou.
Li had reportedly helped to advance Ding's political career.
Wen, 57, was the chief accountant at CNPC and a member of its party committee. He was detained in December 2013, after a series of senior executives at CNPC, including Jiang, were investigated on suspicion of corruption.
Zhou Hao, 52, is a former party secretary of the CNPC subsidiary Liaohe Oilfield. He was taken away last April.
The court said Zhou had abused his power by asking Jiang and the former Sichuan deputy party chief Li Chuncheng to direct illegal gains worth more than 2.13 billion yuan to his family members and contacts. These included his eldest son, his nephew Zhou Feng , his youngest brother Zhou Yuanqing, the Sichuan-based businesswoman He Yan and Cao Yongzheng.
This caused a loss of 1.48 billion yuan to the economy.
Li, 58, was the first provincial level official to fall under President Xi Jinping's anti-graft campaign. The authorities began investigating him for suspected graft in December 2012.
He was vice-mayor of Chengdu in 1998 and rose up the party ranks when Zhou was Sichuan's party chief from 1999 to 2002.
Zhou Feng is the chairman of Beijing Honghan Corporation. The company is a major shareholder in another Beijing-based investment company, which partnered with a Sichuan subsidiary of CNPC in 2007 to set up Hongfeng Potash. Hongfeng Potash received mining rights from Sichuan land and resources officials to develop minerals in a vast area until November 2015, mainland media Caixin reported. Sichuan is another major power base of Zhou's.
Zhou Yuanqing is Zhou Yongkang's youngest brother and Zhou Feng's father. He worked as the deputy chief of a district land and resources bureau in Wuxi, Jiangsu . He was the bridge to connect many lower-level officials to Zhou Yongkang, reported Caixin.
Cao, 56, was identified by Caixin as a mystic. Zhou Yongkang once said Cao was the person he trusted the most. Cao was also closely linked to Li. The court said Zhou had given Cao six classified documents, of which five were top secret.
