Former assistant mayor in gang trial

At least 25 people charged in mafia-style case in Hubei province

Twenty-five people including a former assistant mayor and an accused gang boss, are standing trial for allegedly participating in or leading a mafia-style gang in Hubei province.

Most of the accused have denied the charges at the trial, which began on Tuesday in the province's Jianli county people's court.

Huang Hongyan, 47, assistant mayor of the province's Tianmen city, is charged with participating in a mafia-style gang, embezzling public money and forcing trades.

Before being arrested in April, he was in charge of the city's urban reconstruction and relocation work where the mafia-style operation was focused, local Chutian Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

The alleged gang's ringleader, Xiahou Sicong, and another 20 members were arrested late last year.

Xiahou, 37, began the mafia-style operation with organized gambling and loan sharking. He served in the local police station after leaving the army in 1990. Before his arrest, he was director of the Yuekou branch of the Tianmen Local Tax Bureau, as well as president of the Tianmen Youfu Trading Company. His father and a brother are local police officers.

From 2001 to 2008, the alleged gang monopolized the city's real estate as well as its markets for building materials, entertainment venues, beer and funeral cremation urns through blackmail and violence, the prosecutor said.

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