Hangzhou official under investigation over ownership of 20 homes
Deputy director in Hangzhou bureau under investigation over ownership of 20 properties
Another official head has rolled after it was reported that he owned multiple properties he is unlikely to have been able to afford, given his income.
Zhang Xin, deputy chief of Hangzhou's Housing Management Bureau, was under investigation by the party's anti-graft watchdog in Zhejiang's provincial capital for "taking advantage of his position and making personal gains", Xinhua reported yesterday.
The report confirms a rumour Zhang had been suspended from duty for months over alleged bribery when he was head of the property development department at Hangzhou's Housing and Urban-Rural Development Commission.
Online postings alleged Zhang had more than 20 properties under his name worth hundreds of millions of yuan, mostly offered as gifts by property developers.
Zhang's case followed a string of downfalls of officials after they were found to have multiple properties.
The most famous case yet is Cai Bin, the former political commissar of the urban management bureau in Guangzhou's Panyu district. He was nicknamed "Uncle Apartment", by online users after allegations that he owned over 20 properties valued at tens of millions of yuan. After Cai, "Uncle Apartment" has become a catchphrase to ridicule corrupt officials who owned multiple properties.