Nuctech (威视股份) is a company created in 1997 as an offshoot of Beijing's Tsinghua University.[1] The company was headed by Hu Haifeng, son of President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao until 2008.[2]
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The company has risen to become one of the world's top providers of security scanning equipment, supplying about 50 nations. In late 2006 the company won a contract to install advanced scanners at all 147 of China's airports to detect potentially dangerous liquids.[1] In December 2006 the contract to supply China's airports with security scanners caused concern following the August 2006 Britain-originated plot to blow up aircraft in mid-air.
On July 21, 2009 Nuctech representative Yang Fan (杨帆) and two Namibians, Teckla Lameck and Jerobeam Mokaxwa, were arrested after Namibia’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) discovered that a US$12.8 million down payment on 13 scanners had been diverted to a firm called Teko Trading owned by the two Namibians.[2] Namibia prosecutors accuse them of joining in a bribery scheme that secured a $55.3 million contract in May 2008 to install Nuctech scanners at customs inspection points across Namibia.[2] Other sources report the contract to be worth $69 million.[3]
Netizens in China were being blocked from accessing stories about the son of Hu Jintao in the wake of the scandal. Leading Chinese web portals, Sina and Netease, could not be opened for several hours after they posted reports about the company linked to Hu Haifeng.[3] The report related to Hu Haifeng had been deleted from both web sites when their technology sections came back online.[4] An industry insider who declined to give his name said that both Sina and Netease were likely to face official sanctions.[4] Neither company confirmed that the sites had been blocked by the authorities or that their blockage was linked to any content. A customer service executive at Sina.com said the site had experienced technical problems.[4]
General Martin Shalli was a veteran fighter for Namibian independence, who joined SWAPO in 1974, having undergone training in the former Soviet Union.[3] After the corruption case, he was suspended by Namibian president Hifikepunye Pohamba for allegedly having millions of Namibian dollars transferred to him through Nuctech.[5] No details were given on the probe, but the Namibian daily reported possible links between Shalli and a Chinese company that supplies the Namibia Defense Force.[5]