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the characteristics of an acquaintance society have intensified people's reliance on "authoritative" figures. in an environment without supervision, this reliance can easily become a breeding ground for corruption, and we should be vigilant.

this is a shocking case of "small official committing huge fraud".

according to southern weekend, yang hao, the former director of the social security office of wangu town, dazu district, chongqing, defrauded more than 190 people of more than 20 million yuan under the guise of helping others apply for social security. "i used the money to buy football lottery and gamble on football, trying to win back the money i lost." after get off work, yang hao worked as a salesperson in a lottery shop and was also the main customer supporting the shop's business. the deputy director who worked with him defrauded more than 70 people of a total of 4.38 million yuan. "the model is the same, but each does his own thing."

it is really a nest of snakes and rats. on august 15, 2024, the dazu district court held a trial on yang hao's case and sentenced him to 14 years and eight months in prison for fraud. yang hao did not appeal. yuan bo, the former deputy director of the wangu town social security office, who worked with yang hao, was arrested for other cases and has not yet been prosecuted.

before that, on the morning of november 25, 2023, dai yuangui, a peasant woman, jumped from the 30th floor of a residential building in chongqing. she was one of the victims deceived by yang hao. although the yang hao case has been sentenced, the lesson and sigh of his true deception of people to the point of losing their money and their families will remain in wangu town. we have to ask, how could yang hao cheat for so many years and succeed?

↑ in november 2023, yang hao (second from right) promised to pay back the victims. photo courtesy of southern weekend

the public position of the director of the social security institute undoubtedly provided cover for yang hao's fraud, increased the credibility of his fraud, and gave him sufficient authority.according to an intermediary, yang hao's position, reputation, and the social security procedures he explained made her believe him. the victims did not expect that documents with seals could be forged. driven by selfish desires, yang hao abused the credibility of government departments and turned it into an important tool for fraud, which not only caused irreparable losses to the villagers, but also caused immeasurable damage to the prestige of government departments.

of course, the allure of power has also led many people to attempt to apply for social security through the "back door", ignoring the fact that laws and regulations have already drawn a red line for power.the victims were not only deceived by yang hao's fraud, but also had a weak sense of the rule of law and were too superstitious about the power to "break through" laws and regulations. this is why they fell into the scam constructed by yang hao with power. it can be said that they are pitiful and sad.。

what is more noteworthy about the yang hao case is that it exposed institutional loopholes.the original intention of designing the social security system is to protect the basic living of the people, but in practice, there are loopholes in the social security system in some places. the complicated procedures for social security back pay, information asymmetry, and lack of policy transparency have made many people only partially aware of the social security application process. yang hao took advantage of the victims' vague understanding of social security policies and created the illusion of "applying for social security" by forging documents and fabricating labor relations, thereby defrauding huge amounts of money. on the other hand, yang hao's ability to commit long-term fraud by forging materials and retrieving information from the social security system also reflects the shortcomings of relevant departments in review and supervision.

in addition, the problem of acquaintance society revealed in the case cannot be ignored. in the case of yang hao, the involvement of the village party secretary and the middleman further expanded the scope of influence of this scam. the report mentioned a detail that some victims reported that they paid the money only after the village party secretary confirmed with yang hao. in the case of yang hao, at least three village party secretaries had recommended yang hao to the villagers.these people who hold a certain "right to speak" introduced relatives, friends and even neighbors to yang hao through their social networks. this trust relationship in the acquaintance society makes the fraud more hidden and easy to spread.especially in rural areas, the characteristics of an acquaintance society have intensified people's dependence on "authority" figures. this dependence, in the absence of supervision, can often become a breeding ground for corruption and should be treated with sufficient vigilance.

in short, although the yang hao case is an individual case, it also reflects some deep-seated problems in grassroots governance. local governments should build a good institutional fence, and while strengthening cadre supervision and public policy publicity, they should also effectively improve the transparency and supervision of grassroots governance to avoid the abuse of power causing irreparable harm to the people.

xu qiyang, special commentator of red star news