FINES * China - Raising funds by fining truck drivers

Traffic cops  collecting millions of yuan in fines to help pay themselves salaries and bonuses

Beijing,China -China Central Television (CCTV) / Global Times, by Fu Wen -May 16 2011: -- Traffic cops in a remote, poverty-stricken county of Northeast China have been collecting millions of yuan in fines to help pay themselves salaries and bonuses, reported Friday... The traffic administration of Lindian county, Heilongjiang Province, reportedly handed in 3 million yuan ($461,630) in fines to local government in 2010... "Only 19 out of my 40 officiers are paid from the county's public finances," former director Yao Binhai said. "By fining more trucks, I can pay the rest of the officers". All the fines were submitted to the county's financial department, Yao said, "and they give us 60 percent back" ... Half the fines came from truck drivers who forgot their operating permits, a 20 to 200 yuan fine according to national regulations. Each and every truck driver was fined 200 yuan, the report said... Yao was arrested for economic crimes in February, according to Li Gang, a deputy chief of Lindian county... Li also claimed the county government did not always return fines as financial support, but instead approved a set amount in the annual fiscal budget every year...  (Image from cdn.wn: A Chinese paramilitary officer, right, looks on a Chinese truck)