Update | Associate of China's disgraced presidential aide Ling Jihua accused of leaking state secrets
Huo Ke, who worked under Ling, expelled from party and faces corruption charges
Another former associate of China's ex-presidential aide Ling Jihua who once worked in the heart of the Communist Party's machine will face prosecution for corruption and leaking party and state secrets, the top anti-graft agency said on Wednesday.
Former National Tourism Administration deputy chief Huo Ke, 54, had been expelled from the party, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said, adding that it had handed over evidence to prosecutors for further investigation.
Huo was also found to have taken bribes to facilitate personnel reshuffles and business arrangements, the CCDI said.
The investigations into Huo and Ma are believed to be part of a larger probe into Ling, the one-time aide of former president Hu Jintao.
Huo was a division head at the Central Committee's General Office until late last year. During his tenure, he came mainly under the leadership of Ling, who was chief of the office.
Ling's political career suffered a major setback after his son, Ling Gu, died in a Ferrari car crash in Beijing in 2012. He was sidelined to lead the party's United Front Work Department before being expelled from the party last month and accused of corruption and illegally obtaining party and state secrets.
READ MORE: How son’s death in a high-speed car crash led to powerful Chinese official’s fall from grace
After Ling was transferred to the United Front Work Department, Huo was moved to take on the role of deputy chief of the National Tourism Administration - an area in which he had no experience.
According to Huo's public profile, he had worked at the Beijing military command as a staff technician and later studied journalism at the People's Liberation Army's political academy in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. He was promoted to the party's Secretariat after being a reporter at the Beijing military command's newspaper.
The CCDI said Huo had offered bribes to others to boost his career, and that his behaviour had negatively affected the party.
On July 31, Ling's successor, President Xi Jinping's chief of staff Li Zhanshu, told the State Archives Administration that the party would "conduct further clean-up work to root out the negative impact from Ling Jihua".
"All tasks at the General Office of the party's Central Committee are political," said Li, stressing to cadres the importance staying loyal to the party.
