FIVE policemen from the crime department of the city public security bureau were detained for renting out an apartment and using two cars without approval, Southern Metropolis Daily reported.
The apartment and the cars had been confiscated by police pending investigations.
The five policemen, identified only as Luo, Zhong, Wen, Shi and Yuan, had been suspended and were awaiting punishment, the bureau said.
A woman, born in 1984 in Sichuan Province, found one of her two apartments and two cars had been used by others when she went to claim her property with the approval of the Guangdong Higher People s Court in December last year. She wanted the police department to compensate her for her losses, the newspaper said.
Police prosecuted a drug case in 2007 and seized money and property worth nearly 10 million yuan (US$1.53 million), including two apartments in Luohu District and two cars which belonged to the woman, surnamed Yao, allegedly the girlfriend of a prominent criminal at the time.
In December last year, the Guangdong Higher People s Court said Yao s property had nothing to do with the case and she could retrieve the apartments and the cars from the police department.
However, when Yao returned to one apartment at Hongxiang Garden, she found it had changed hands and was leased to strangers. She also found her cars had been used without her knowledge.
According to a police report, the property management company had loaned the apartment without notifying the police, while the cars had been used by police for business trips.
I hope the department can compensate me for my losses, which total more than 125,000 yuan for apartment rent. It was not fair that I had to pay rent while someone else was living in my home for free and making money from it, Yao said.
(Wang Yuanyuan)
