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Fugitive Chinese tycoon ‘snoops on Middle Eastern royal families’ in leaked phone messages

The recordings come after a series of reports on state media aimed at discrediting Guo Wengui, who is wanted on graft charges and accuses Chinese leaders of corruption

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FILE PHOTO: Billionaire businessman Guo Wengui speaks during an interview in New York City, U.S., April 30, 2017. Picture taken April 30, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Recordings of what appear to be phone voice messages left by fugitive Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui requesting information about powerful royal family members in the Middle East and other international public figures have emerged online.

The publication of the recordings on YouTube follows a slew of state media reports aimed at discrediting the Chinese businessman this week.

The three crudely edited videos containing the audio, with subtitles in Chinese and in poorly translated English of Guo speaking, were uploaded onto the video sharing website at about midnight on Wednesday.

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The content of the videos appears to back up state media reports in China run by the state-run news agency Xinhua and state broadcaster CCTV on Monday, which said Guo had asked the former civil aviation official Song Jun to obtain information about Hainan Airlines’ passengers and political heavyweights in the Middle East and the West.

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One message from the YouTube videos was also used in a CCTV report on Monday.

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