[JURIST] Five senior judges from Shenzhen, China [government website] have been arrested and 20 other judges implicated in a crackdown on corruption during the months of June to October, the China Daily reported [text] Wednesday. The raids begun after prosecutors arrested retired judge Liao Zhaohui and the head of a Shenzhen auction house, accusing Liao of accepting bribes from the auctioneer during his service as a judge. The China Daily [media website] also reported the arrests of Zhang Tinghua, president of the court of bankruptcy in Shenzhen, and Pei Hongquan, vice-president of the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court. Prosecutors searched Zhang's car and found 100,000 yuan ($12,700), and also uncovered over 27 million yuan ($3.4 million) hidden in Pei's house.

Earlier reports from state media discussed investigations into Pei's former wife and court president, Li Huiliu, and Cai Xiaoling, president of the court which handles residents of Hong Kong. China [JURIST news archive] has a history of fraudulent activities by judges, but the latest probe in Shenzhen marks the largest graft corruption scandal among judges that the country has seen to date. Last month, four Chinese judges were charged with accepting bribes [JURIST report] to fix the outcomes of cases in Anhui province [official backgrounder]. AFP has more.