Official accused of hiding property from Party

A senior official under investigation in East China's Jiangxi province is accused of trying to hide property when declaring his assets to the Party's personnel agency.

Yao Mugen, vice-governor of Jiangxi, was probed over corruption allegations on March 28. The country's top anti-graft agency found that Yao had more than 10 apartments in cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou; but claimed he had only one apartment when he reported his assets to the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, China Economic Weekly reported.

Yao allegedly accepted a house in Beijing that was valued at about 5 million yuan ($807,020) several years ago from a former businessman, who was promoted afterward by Yao to become an official of the province's top economic planning commission, the report said.

According to a regulation issued in July 2010, Party and government officials must report their private assets to the Party's personnel agency as part of measures to prevent corruption.

Wang Qishan, secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China's top anti-corruption agency, said late last year that anti-graft authorities would keep a close eye on officials' declarations of private assets, and those who are found to have made fraudulent declarations will be severely punished.