Doubts cast on story of cash stash in Wen Qiang's fish pond

The story of the piles of cash found buried beneath former Chongqing police chief Wen Qiang's fish pond was frequently used to justify the massive anti-triad drive led by his successor, Wang Lijun.

The 20 million yuan (HK$24.5 million) stash was discovered in the pond owned by Wen, the biggest catch in a crackdown that helped Wang and his political patron, disgraced former Chongqing Communist Party secretary Bo Xilai , earn tremendous political capital.

The huge find, first revealed by a Beijing-backed Hong Kong newspaper days before Wen was formally arrested in September 2009 and then put on public display in Chongqing, became the final nail in his coffin.

Wen, who was replaced by Wang in June 2008, was executed in 2010 for corruption, property scams, rape and serving as the "protective umbrella" for organised crime.

Wang was jailed for 15 years in September for bribery, bending the law, abuse of power and attempted defection.

Since then, several people, including former police officers, have come forward to challenge the fish pond story, saying it was simply fabricated by Wang to incriminate Wen and help consolidate Bo's grip on power.

"Wen had nothing to do with it," said one Chongqing businessman familiar with the case. "The money was actually borrowed from a local business just a day before Wang invited the media to see the so-called evidence."