Pay As You Go: Leaky Toilet in China Reveals Millions in Soggy Bribes

Chinese authorities have shown the importance of maintaining properly running toilets — your life could depend on it. Yan Dabin was the former director of transportation for Wushan County in southwest China. He was arrested after a resident in his apartment building called police about water leaking through his ceiling. When the police arranged for the apartment to be opened with a maintenance worker, they discovered the problem: eight soaked cardboard boxes containing 9.39 million yuan ($1.3 million) from bribes.

Yan Dabin was ultimately found to have collected 22.3 million yuan ($3.2 million) in bribes exchange for awarding contracts for road and bridge construction. He has been sentenced to death. His wife has been sentenced to three years for money laundering (no joke) of more than 9 million yuan ($ 1.3 million). However, she did not use the plumbing to launder the money but in a series of house purchases.

The story shows how China is still a fledgling political system. In the United States, our politicians have the class and wherewithal to store their cash in wrapped bundles in the freezer, here.

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