Crackdown hits officials at all levels

Ex-security chief

Zhou Yongkang, the former domestic security chief, has been placed under investigation for alleged corruption, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Zhou, 71, is the highest-profile figure caught in President Xi Jinping's crackdown on corruption and the most senior Chinese official investigated in a graft scandal since the Party swept to power in 1949.

On Dec 5, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee expelled Zhou from the Party, accusing him of crimes ranging from accepting bribes to leaking State secrets. The case has been handed over to judicial authorities, setting the stage for a trial, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Senior official

Ling Jihua, 58, the former head of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, is being investigated for "suspected disciplinary violations", according to the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Ling, who was born in Shanxi province, is also former vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultatve Conference National Committee and former head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee.

'Precious jade' bribes

A former vice-governor of Anhui province who allegedly accepted bribes valued at 12 million yuan ($1.94million) in the form of valuable jade stood trial in the Dongying Intermediate Court in mid-December. Ni Fake, 60, is accused of accepting 49 bribes totaling 13 million yuan and possessing unaccountable properties worth 5.8 million yuan.

Liquor loot

More than 1,800 bottles of high-end Moutai liquor, a Chinese classic, were found in the home of Feng Yuexin, former police chief of Licang district in Qingdao, Shandong province.

Feng has been put under investigation for allegedly providing protection to a mafia-style gang and embezzling more than 2 million yuan of public funds to buy liquor and precious stones for personal use.

Mistresses accused

Anti-graft inspectors investigated Chen Weimin, 55, a former Jiangxi provincial official in September. Chen allegedly maintained several mistresses who helped collect bribes from companies in exchange for contracts, the disciplinary authorities said. Chen is said to have two sons born out of wedlock.

Home haul

In November, a former official in charge of the water supply in the Beidaihe district of Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, was found to have stashed 120 million yuan ($19.3 million) in cash and 37 kilograms of gold.

Ma Chaoqun, a former general manager of the State-owned water company in Beidaihe, is also alleged to have owned 68 houses in many cities including Beijing, the local anti-graft agency said.

Cash 'king'

Authorities found more than 200 million yuan ($32.2 million) in cash at the home of former energy official Wei Pengyuan in November. Wei, former deputy director of the National Energy Administration's coal department, has been detained on corruption charges.

The money involved is the largest amount seized from an individual official in the crackdown on corruption.

Sixteen cash-counting machines were used to tally the money, and four of them burned out in the process.

(China Daily 12/31/2014 page6)