GOLD
DIGGER Thirteen tons of gold worth £300million and £30billion
cash found at home of ‘corrupt’ Chinese mayor who could face
the DEATH PENALTY 2 Oct 2019, 10:44
| Updated: 2 Oct 2019, 18:08
OFFICIALS found a stash
of gold bars and £30 billion in cash in the basement of
an allegedly corrupt Chinese mayor.
The former mayor of Haikou City, 58-year-old
Zhang Qi, allegedly also has a portfolio of luxury properties
- and will face the death penalty if he is found guilty
of "economic crimes".
Qi was being investigated by the National
Supervisory Commission, who found 13.5 tons of gold worth
millions of dollars. Video shows investigators sifting through
the giant pile of gold bars, some of which spill out from
shelving units onto the floor. Stacks
of cash to the value of billions of dollars found at the
home of the Community Party politician was in various currencies
such as dollars, Chinese yuan and euros.
Zhang was the secretary of the Communist
Party Committee of Haikou, the provincial capital city of
Hainan with a population around nine million people. His
position was equal to that of mayor, according to the ranking
of Chinese Communist party officials. He was also a member
of the Standing Committee of Hainan Province. The disgraced
former mayor has been stripped of both titles by the Commission
for Discipline Inspection of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China.
Meanwhile, China's leader, Xi Jinping is
cracking down on corruption as it's a major policy for the
Communist Party. Qi was being investigated by the National
Supervisory Commission, who found 13.5 tons of gold worth
millions of dollars. Video shows investigators sifting through
the giant pile of gold bars, some of which spill out from
shelving units onto the floor. Stacks of cash to the value
of billions of dollars found at the home of the Community
Party politician was in various currencies such as dollars,
Chinese yuan and euros.
Zhang was the secretary of the Communist
Party Committee of Haikou, the provincial capital city of
Hainan with a population around nine million people. His
position was equal to that of mayor, according to the ranking
of Chinese Communist party officials. He was also a member
of the Standing Committee of Hainan Province. The disgraced
former mayor has been stripped of both titles by the Commission
for Discipline Inspection of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China.
Meanwhile, China's leader, Xi Jinping is
cracking down on corruption as it's a major policy for the
Communist Party. More than 10,000 people have been indicted
for corruption since he took office in 2012. According to
reports, at least 120 corrupt bigwigs have been uncovered
in similar investigations - including military officers
and top execs. However, Xi's crackdown has faced criticism
from some who speculate his allegations of corruption could
be a front for a widespread political purge.